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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/18810-0.txt b/18810-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..684ce0b --- /dev/null +++ b/18810-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,24481 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Alec Forbes of Howglen, by George MacDonald + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Alec Forbes of Howglen + +Author: George MacDonald + +Release Date: July 12, 2006 [EBook #18810] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALEC FORBES OF HOWGLEN *** + + + + +Produced by John Bechard (JaBBechard@aol.com) + + + + + +[Note from the transcriber: I have compiled a glossary with definitions +of most of the Scottish words found in this work and placed it at the +end of this electronic text. This glossary does not belong to the +original work, but is designed to help with the conversations and +references in Broad Scots found in this work. A further explanation of +this list can be found towards the end of this document, preceding the +glossary.] + + + +ALEC FORBES OF HOWGLEN + +BY + +GEORGE MACDONALD LL.D. + +NEW EDITION + +c. 1900 + + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +The farm-yard was full of the light of a summer noontide. Nothing can +be so desolately dreary as full strong sunlight can be. Not a living +creature was to be seen in all the square inclosure, though cow-houses +and stables formed the greater part of it, and one end was occupied by +a dwelling-house. Away through the gate at the other end, far off in +fenced fields, might be seen the dark forms of cattle; and on a road, +at no great distance, a cart crawled along, drawn by one sleepy horse. +An occasional weary low came from some imprisoned cow--or animal of the +cow-kind; but not even a cat crossed the yard. The door of the barn was +open, showing a polished floor, as empty, bright, and clean as that of +a ball-room. And through the opposite door shone the last year's ricks +of corn, golden in the sun. + +Now, although a farm-yard is not, either in Scotland or elsewhere, the +liveliest of places in ordinary, and still less about noon in summer, +yet there was a peculiar cause rendering this one, at this moment, +exceptionally deserted and dreary. But there were, notwithstanding, a +great many more people about the place than was usual, only they were +all gathered together in the ben-end, or best room of the house--a room +of tolerable size, with a clean boarded floor, a mahogany table, black +with age, and chairs of like material, whose wooden seats, and high, +straight backs, were more suggestive of state than repose. Every one of +these chairs was occupied by a silent man, whose gaze was either fixed +on the floor, or lost in the voids of space. Each wore a black coat, +and most of them were in black throughout. Their hard, thick, brown +hands--hands evidently unused to idleness--grasped their knees, or, +folded in each other, rested upon them. Some bottles and glasses, with +a plate of biscuits, on a table in a corner, seemed to indicate that +the meeting was not entirely for business purposes; and yet there were +no signs of any sort of enjoyment. Nor was there a woman to be seen in +the company. + +Suddenly, at the open door, appeared a man whose shirt-sleeves showed +very white against his other clothing which, like that of the rest, was +of decent black. He addressed the assembly thus: + +"Gin ony o' ye want to see the corp, noo's yer time." + +To this offer no one responded; and, with a slight air of discomfiture, +for he was a busy man, and liked bustle, the carpenter turned on his +heel, and re-ascended the narrow stairs to the upper room, where the +corpse lay, waiting for its final dismission and courted oblivion. + +"I reckon they've a' seen him afore," he remarked, as he rejoined his +companion. "Puir fallow! He's unco (uncouthly) worn. There'll no be +muckle o' _him_ to rise again." + +"George, man, dinna jeest i' the face o' a corp," returned the other. +"Ye kenna whan yer ain turn may come." + +"It's no disrespeck to the deid, Thamas. That ye ken weel eneuch. I was +only pityin' the worn face o' him, leukin up there atween the buirds, +as gin he had gotten what he wanted sae lang, and was thankin' heaven +for that same. I jist dinna like to pit the lid ower him." + +"Hoot! hoot! Lat the Lord luik efter his ain. The lid o' the coffin +disna hide frae his een." + +The last speaker was a stout, broad-shouldered man, a stonemason by +trade, powerful, and somewhat asthmatic. He was regarded in the +neighbourhood as a very religious man, but was more respected than +liked, because his forte was rebuke. It was from deference to him that +the carpenter had assumed a mental position generating a poetic mood +and utterance quite unusual with him, for he was a jolly, careless kind +of fellow, well-meaning and good-hearted. + +So together they lifted the last covering of the dead, laid it over +him, and fastened it down. And there was darkness about the dead; but +he knew it not, because he was full of light. For this man was one who, +all his life, had striven to be better. + +Meantime, the clergyman having arrived, the usual religious ceremonial +of a Scotch funeral--the reading of the Word and prayer--was going on +below. This was all that gave the burial any sacred solemnity; for at +the grave the Scotch terror of Popery forbids any observance of a +religious character. The voice of the reader was heard in the chamber +of death. + +"The minister's come, Thamas." + +"Come or gang," said Thomas, "it's muckle the same. The word itsel' oot +o' his mou' fa's as deid as chaff upo' clay. Honest Jeames there'll +rise ance mair; but never a word that man says, wi' the croon o' 's +heid i' the how o' 's neck, 'll rise to beir witness o' his +ministrations." + +"Hoot, Thamas! It's no for the likes o' me to flee i' your face--but +jist say a fair word for the livin' ower the deid, ye ken." + +"Na, na. It's fair words maks foul wark; and the wrath o' the Almichty +maun purge this toon or a' be dune. There's a heap o' graceless gaeins +on in't; and that puir feckless body, the minister, never gies a pu' at +the bridle o' salvation, to haud them aff o' the scaur (cliff) o' +hell." + +The stone-mason generally spoke of the Almighty as if he were in a +state of restrained indignation at the wrongs he endured from his +children. If Thomas was right in this, then certainly he himself was +one of his offspring. If he was wrong, then there was much well worth +his unlearning. + +The prayer was soon over, and the company again seated themselves, +waiting till the coffin should be placed in the hearse, which now stood +at the door. + +"We'll jist draw the cork o' anither boatle," whispered a sharp-faced +man to his neighbour. + +And rising, he opened two bottles, and filled the glasses the second +time with wine, red and white, which he handed to the minister first. + +"Tak' a drappy mair, sir," he whispered in a coaxing, old-wivish tone; +"it's a lang road to the kirkyard." + +But the minister declining, most of the others followed his example. +One after another they withdrew to the door, where the hearse was now +laden with the harvest of the grave. + +Falling in behind the body, they moved in an irregular procession from +the yard. Outside, they were joined by several more in gigs and on +horseback; and thus they crept, a curious train, away towards the +resting-place of the dead. + +It were a dreary rest, indeed, if that were their resting-place--on the +side of a low hill, without tree or shrub to beautify it, or even the +presence of an old church to seem to sanctify the spot. There was some +long grass in it, though, clambering up as if it sought to bury the +gravestones in their turn. And that long grass was a blessing. Better +still, there was a sky overhead, in which men cannot set up any +gravestones. But if any graveyard be the type of the rest expected by +those left behind, it is no wonder they shrink from joining those that +are away. + + + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +When the last man had disappeared, the women, like those of an eastern +harem, began to come out. The first that entered the deserted room was +a hard-featured, reproachful-looking woman, the sister of the departed. +She instantly began to put the place in order, as if she expected her +turn to come on the morrow. In a few moments more a servant appeared, +and began to assist her. The girl had been crying, and the tears would +still come, in spite of her efforts to repress them. In the vain +attempt to dry her eyes with the corner of her apron, she nearly +dropped one of the chairs, which she was simultaneously dusting and +restoring to its usual place. Her mistress turned upon her with a kind +of cold fierceness. + +"Is that hoo ye shaw yer regaird to the deid, by brackin' the cheirs he +left ahin' him? Lat sit, an' gang an' luik for that puir, doited thing, +Annie. Gin it had only been the Almichty's will to hae ta'en her, an' +left him, honest man!" + +"Dinna daur to say a word again' the bairn, mem. The deid'll hear ye, +an' no lie still." + +"Supperstitious quean! Gang an' do as I tell ye this minute. What +business hae ye to gang greetin aboot the hoose? He was no drap's bluid +o' yours!" + +To this the girl made no reply, but left the room in quest of Annie. +When she reached the door, she stood for a moment on the threshold, +and, putting her hand over her eyes, shouted "_Annie_!" But, apparently +startled at the sound of her own voice where the unhearing dead had so +lately passed, she let the end of the call die away in a quaver, and, +without repeating it, set off to find the missing child by the use of +her eyes alone. First she went into the barn, and then through the barn +into the stack-yard, and then round the ricks one after another, and +then into the corn-loft; but all without avail. At length, as she was +beginning to feel rather alarmed about the child, she arrived, in the +progress of her search, at the door of one of the cow-houses. The +moment she looked round the corner into the stall next the door, she +stood stock-still, with her mouth wide open. This stall was occupied by +a favourite cow--brown, with large white spots, called therefore +_Brownie_. Her manger was full of fresh-cut grass; and half-buried in +this grass, at one end of the manger, with her back against the wall, +sat Annie, holding one of the ears of the hornless Brownie with one +hand and stroking the creature's nose with the other. + +She was a delicate child, about nine years old, with blue eyes, half +full of tears, hair somewhere between dark and fair, gathered in a silk +net, and a pale face, on which a faint moon-like smile was glimmering. +The old cow continued to hold her nose to be stroked. + +"Is na Broonie a fine coo, Betty?" said the child, as the maid went on +staring at her. "Puir Broonie! Naebody mindit me, an' sae I cam to you, +Broonie." + +And she laid her cheek, white, smooth, and thin, against the broad, +flat, hairy forehead of the friendly cow. Then turning again to Betty, +she said-- + +"Dinna tell auntie whaur I am, Betty. Lat me be. I'm best here wi' +Broonie." + +Betty said never a word, but returned to her mistress. + +"Whaur's the bairn, Betty? At some mischeef or ither, I'll wad." + +"Hoot! mem, the bairn's weel eneuch. Bairns maunna be followed like +carr (calves)." + +"Whaur is she?" + +"I canna jist doonricht exackly tak upo' me to say," answered Betty; +"but I hae no fear aboot her. She's a wise bairn." + +"Ye're no the lassie's keeper, Betty. I see I maun seek her mysel'. +Ye're aidin' an' abettin' as usual." + +So saying, Auntie Meg went out to look for her niece. It was some time +before the natural order of her search brought her at last to the +_byre_. By that time Annie was almost asleep in the grass, which the +cow was gradually pulling away from under her. Through the open door +the child could see the sunlight lying heavy upon the hot stones that +paved the yard; but in here it was so dark-shadowy and cool, and the +cow was such good, kindly company, and she was so safe hidden from +auntie, as she thought--for no one had ever found her there before, and +she knew Betty would not tell--that, as I say, she was nearly asleep +with comfort, half-buried in Brownie's dinner. + +But she was roused all at once to a sense of exposure and insecurity. +She looked up, and at the same moment the hawk-nose of her aunt came +round the _door-cheek_. Auntie's temper was none the better than usual +that it had pleased the _Almichty_ to take the brother whom she loved, +and to leave behind the child whom she regarded as a painful +responsibility. And now with her small, fierce eyes, and her big, thin +nose--both red with suppressed crying--she did not dawn upon the sense +of Annie as an embodiment of the maternity of the universe. + +"Ye plaguesome brat!" cried Auntie; "there has Betty been seekin' ye, +and I hae been seekin' ye, far an' near, i' the verra rottan-holes; an' +here ye are, on yer ain father's buryin' day, that comes but +ance--takin' up wi' a coo." + +But the causes of Annie's preference of the society of Brownie to that +of Auntie might have been tolerably clear to an onlooker, without word +spoken. For to Annie and her needs, notwithstanding the humble +four-footedness of Brownie, there was in her large mild eyes, and her +hairy, featureless face, all nose and no nose, more of the divine than +in the human form of Auntie Meg. And there was something of an +indignation quite human in the way the cow tossed her bound head and +neck towards the woman that darkened the door, as if warning her off +her premises. But without a word of reply, Annie rose, flung her arms +around Brownie's head, kissed the white star on her forehead, +disengaged herself from the grass, and got out of the manger. Auntie +seized her hand with a rough action, but not ungentle grasp, and led +her away to the house. The stones felt very hot to her little bare +feet. + + + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +By this time the funeral was approaching the churchyard at a more rapid +pace; for the pedestrians had dropped away one by one, on diverging +roads, or had stopped and retraced their steps. But as they drew near +the place, the slow trot subsided into a slow walk once more. To an +English eye the whole mode would have appeared barbarous. But if the +carved and gilded skulls and cross-bones on the hearse were +ill-conceived, at least there were no awful nodding plumes to make +death hideous with yet more of cloudy darkness; and one of the panels +showed, in all the sunshine that golden rays could yield, the +Resurrection of the Lord--the victory over the grave. And, again, when +they stopped at the gate of the churchyard, they were the hands of +friends and neighbours, and not those of cormorant undertakers and +obscene mutes, that bore the dead man to his grave. And, once more, if +the only rite they observed, when the body had settled into its place +of decay, was the silent uncovering of the head, as a last token of +respect and farewell, it may be suggested that the Church of England +herself, in all her beautiful service, has no prayer for the departed +soul, which cannot be beyond the need of prayer, as the longings that +follow it into the region of the Unknown, are not beyond its comfort. + +Before the grave was quite filled the company had nearly gone. Thomas +Crann, the stone-mason, and George Macwha, the _wright_, alone remained +behind, for they had some charge over the arrangements, and were now +taking a share in covering the grave. At length the last sod was laid +upon the mound, and stamped into its place, where soon the earth's +broken surface would heal, as society would flow together again, +closing over the place that had known the departed, and would know him +no more. Then Thomas and George sat down, opposite to each other, on +two neighbouring tombstones, and wiping their brows, gave each a sigh +of relief, for the sun was hot and oppressive. + +"Hech! it's a weary warl," said George. + +"Ye hae no richt to say sae, George," answered Thomas, "for ye hae +never met it, an' foughten wi' 't. Ye hae never draan the soord o' the +Lord and o' Gideon. Ye hae never broken the pitcher, to lat the lamp +shine out, an' I doubt ye hae smo'red it by this time. And sae, whan +the bridegroom comes, ye'll be ill-aff for a licht." + +"Hoot, man! dinna speak sic awfu' things i' the verra kirkyard." + +"Better hear them i' the kirkyard than at the closed door, George!" + +"Weel, but," rejoined Macwha, anxious to turn the current of the +conversation, which he found unpleasantly personal, "jist tell me +honestly, Thamas Crann, do ye believe, wi' a' yer heart an' sowl, that +the deid man--Gude be wi' him!--" + +"No prayin' for the deid i' my hearin', George! As the tree falleth, so +it shall lie." + +"Weel! weel! I didna mean onything." + +"That I verily believe. Ye seldom do!" + +"But I jist want to speir," resumed George, with some asperity, getting +rather nettled at his companion's persistent discourtesy, "gin ye +believe that Jeames Anderson here, honest man, aneath our feet, +crumblin' awa', as ye ken, and no ae spoke o' his wheel to the fore, or +lang, to tell what his cart was like--do ye believe that his honest +face will, ae day, pairt the mouls, an' come up again, jist here, i' +the face o' the light, the verra same as it vanished whan we pat the +lid ower him? Do ye believe that, Thamas Crann?" + +"Na, na, George, man. Ye ken little what ye're busiest sayin'. It'll be +a glorifeed body that he'll rise wi'. It's sown in dishonour, and +raised in glory. Hoot! hoot! ye _are_ ignorant, man!" + +Macwha got more nettled still at his tone of superiority. + +"Wad it be a glorifeed timmer-leg he rase wi', gin he had been buried +wi' a timmer-leg?" asked he. + +"His ain leg wad be buried some gait." + +"Ow ay! nae doubt. An' it wad come happin' ower the Paceefic, or the +Atlantic, to jine its oreeginal stump--wad it no? But supposin' the man +had been born _wantin'_ a leg--eh, Thamas?" + +"George! George!" said Thomas, with great solemnity, "luik ye efter yer +sowl, an' the Lord'ill luik after yer body, legs an' a'! Man, ye're no +convertit, an' hoo can ye unnerstan' the things o' the speerit? Aye +jeerin', an' jeerin'!" + +"Weel! weel! Thamas," rejoined Macwha, mollified in perceiving that he +had not had altogether the worst in the tilt of words; "I wad only tak' +the leeberty o' thinkin' that, when He was aboot it, the Almighty micht +as weel mak' a new body a'thegither, as gang patchin' up the auld ane. +Sae I s' twa hame." + +"Mind ye yer immortal pairt, George," said Thomas with a final thrust, +as he likewise rose to go home with him on the box of the hearse. + +"Gin the Lord tak's sic guid care o' the body, Thamas," retorted +Macwha, with less of irreverence than appeared in his words, "maybe he +winna objec' to gie a look to my puir soul as weel; for they say it's +worth a hantle mair. I wish he wad, for he kens better nor me hoo to +set aboot the job." + +So saying, he strode briskly over the graves and out of the churchyard, +leaving Thomas to follow as fast as suited his unwieldy strength. + + + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +Meantime another conversation was going on in one of the gigs, as it +bore two of the company from the place of tombs, which will serve a +little for the purposes of this history. One of the twain was a cousin +of the deceased, already incidentally mentioned as taking some +direction in the matter of refreshment. His name was no less than +Robert Bruce. The other was called Andrew Constable, and was a worthy +elder of the kirk. + +"Weel, Robert," began the latter, after they had jogged on in silence +for half a mile or so, "what's to be done wi' little Annie Anderson and +her Auntie Meg, noo that the douce man's gane hame, an' left them +theroot, as't war?" + +"They canna hae that muckle to the fore efter the doctor an' a' 's +sattled for." + +"It's no to be thought. It's lang sin' ever he wrought a day's darg +(contracted from 'daywerk')." + +"Jeames Dow luikit weel after the farmin', though." + +"Nae doot. He's a guid servant that, to ony man he ca's master. But +there canna be muckle siller to the fore." + +A pause followed. + +"What think ye noo, Andrew?" recommenced Bruce. "Ye're weel kent for an +honest an' a langheided man. Do ye think that folk wad expec' onything +o' me gin the warst cam to the warst?" + +"Weel, Robert, I dinna think there's muckle guid in luikin' to what +fowk micht or micht not expec' o' ye." + +"That's jist what I was thinkin' mysel'; for, ye see, I hae a sma' +family o' my ain to haud chowin' already." + +"Nae doot--nae doot. But--" + +"Ay, ay; I ken what ye wad say. I maunna a'thegither disregaird what +fowk think, 'cause there's the chop (shop); an' gin I ance got--no to +say an ill name, but jist the wind o' no being sae considerate as I +micht hae been, there's no sayin' but twa or three micht gang by my +door, and across to Jamie Mitchell's yonner." + +"Do ye what's richt, Robert Bruce, and sae defy fowk and fairy." + +"Na, na, that winna _aye_ work. A body maun tak' care o' their ain, +else wha's to do't?" + +"Weel," rejoined Andrew with a smile, for he understood Bruce well +enough, although he pretended to have mistaken his meaning--"weel, gin +the bairnie falls to you, nae doot ye maun take chairge o' her." + +"I dinna mean Jeames Anderson's bairns--I mean my ain bairns." + +"Robert, whatever way ye decide, I houp it may be sic a deceesion as +will admit o' yer castin' yer care upo' _Him_." + +"I ken a' aboot that, Andrew. But my opeenion upo' that text is jist +this--that ilka vessel has to haud the fill o' 't, and what rins ower +may be committed to Him, for ye can haud it no langer. Them that winna +tak tent (care) 'll tak scathe. It's a sweer (lazy) thochtless way to +gang to the Almichty wi' ilka fash. Whan I'm driven to ane mair, that +ane sall aye be Him. Ye min' the story about my namesake and the +spidder?" + +"Ay, weel eneuch," answered Andrew. + +But he did not proceed to remark that he could see no connection +between that story and the subject in hand, for Bruce's question did +not take him by surprise, it being well understood that he was in the +habit of making all possible and some impossible references to his +great namesake. Indeed, he wished everybody to think, though he seldom +ventured to assert it plainly, that he was lineally descended from the +king. Nor did Andrew make further remark of any sort with regard to the +fate of Annie or the duty of Bruce, for he saw that his companion +wanted no advice--only some talk, and possibly some sympathy with his +perplexity as to what the world might think of him. But with this +perplexity Andrew could accord him very little sympathy indeed; for he +could not take much interest in the buttressing of a reputation which +he knew to be already quite undermined by widely-reported acts of petty +meanness and selfishness. Nor was this fact much to be wondered at, if +his principles were really those which he had so openly advocated. +Indeed, Andrew knew well that it would be a bad day for poor Annie when +she came under Bruce's roof, and therefore sincerely hoped that Auntie +Meg might find some way of managing so as to avoid parting with the +child; for he knew, too, that, though her aunt was fierce and hard, she +had yet a warm spot somewhere about her heart. + +Margaret Anderson had known perfectly well for some time that she and +Annie must part before long. The lease of the farm would expire at the +close of the autumn of next year; and as it had been rather a losing +affair for some time, she had no inclination to request a renewal. When +her brother's debts should be paid, there would not remain, even after +the sale of the stock, more than a hundred and fifty pounds. For +herself, she believed she must go into service--which would hurt her +pride more than it would alter her position, for her hands had done far +more of the necessary labour than those of the maid who assisted her. +Indeed, in her proudest mood, she would have welcomed death rather than +idleness. What was to become of Annie she did not yet see. + +Meantime there remained for the child just a year more of the native +farm, with all the varieties of life which had been so dear to her. +Auntie Meg did not spare to put her in mind of the coming change; but +it seemed to Annie so long in coming that it never would come. The +impression was worn off by the daily attempt to deepen it, she gave +herself up to the childish pleasures within her reach, without thinking +of their approaching loss. + + + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +And why should Annie think of the future? The future was not: the +present was--and full of delights. If she did not receive much +tenderness from auntie, at least she was not afraid of her. The +pungency of her temper was but as the salt and vinegar which brought +out the true flavour of the other numberless pleasures around her. Were +her excursions far afield, perched aloft on Dowie's shoulder, and +holding on by the top of his head, or clinging to his back with her +arms round his neck, at all the less delightful that auntie was +scolding at home? They would have been less delightful if she had +thought of the future; but she thought only of the present joy; or +rather she took it as it came, and let it play upon her, without +thinking about it at all. And if she was late for one of her meals, for +Annie had no very correct sense of the lapse of time, and auntie had +declared she should go fasting, it was yet not without her connivance +that rosy-faced Betty got the child the best of everything that was at +hand, and put cream in her milk, and butter on her oat cake, Annie +managing to consume everything with satisfaction, notwithstanding the +hurdy-gurdy accompaniment of her aunt's audible reflections. And +Brownie was always friendly; ever ready on any serious emergency, when +auntie's temper was still less placid than usual, to yield a corner of +her manger for a refuge to the child. And the cocks and hens, even the +peacock and the turkey-cock, knew her perfectly, and would come when +she called them, if not altogether out of affection for her, at least +out of hope in her bounty; and she had not yet arrived at the painful +wisdom of beginning to question motives--a wisdom which misleads more +than it guides. She loved _them_, and that was enough for her. And she +would ride the horses to water, sitting sideways on their broad backs +like a barefooted lady; for Dowie had such respect for his little +mistress, as he called her, that he would never let her get astride +"like a laddie," however much she wanted to do so. And when the morning +was wet, and the sound of the flails came to her from the barn, she +would watch for the moment when her aunt's back would be turned, and +then scurry across the yard, like a mouse to its hole; for auntie's +first impulse was always to oppose whatever Annie desired. Once in the +barn, she would bury herself like a mole in the straw, and listen to +the unfailing metronome of the flails, till she would fall so fast +asleep as to awake only when her uncomfortable aunt, believing that at +last the awful something or other _had_ happened to the _royt_ lassie, +dragged her out ignominiously by the heels. But the _royt_ lassie was +one of the gentlest of girls, what adventurousness she had being the +result of faith, and not of hardihood. + +And then came the delights of the harvest-field--soon to become great +golden splendours to the memory. With the reapers she would remain from +morning till night, sharing in their meals, and lightening their labour +with her gentle frolic. Every day, after the noon-tide meal, she would +go to sleep on the shady side of a _stook_, upon two or three sheaves +which Dowie would lay down for her in a choice spot. Indeed the little +mistress was very fond of sleep, and would go to sleep anywhere; this +habit being indeed one of her aunt's chief grounds of complaint. For +before hay-time, for instance, when the grass was long in the fields, +if she came upon any place that took her fancy, she would tumble down +at once, and show that she loved it by going to sleep upon it. Then it +was no easy task to find her amidst the long grass that closed over +her, as over a bird in its nest. But the fact was, this habit indicated +a feebleness of constitution, to which sleep itself was the best +restorative. And in the harvest-field, at least, no harm could come of +it; for Dooie, as she always called him, watched her like a mother; so +that sometimes when she awoke, she would find a second stook of ten +sheaves, with a high-uplifted crowning pair above, built at right +angles to the first, to shelter her from the sun which had peered round +the corner, and would soon have stared her awake. + +The only discomfort of the harvest-field was, that the sharp stubble +forced her to wear shoes. But when the corn had all been carried home, +and the potatoes had been dug up and heaped in warm pits against the +winter, and the mornings and evenings grew cold, and, though still +friendly to strong men and women, were rather too keen for delicate +little Annie--she had to put on both shoes and stockings, which she did +not like at all. + +So with "gentle gliding," through a whole winter of ice and snow, +through a whole spring of promises tardily fulfilled, through a summer +of glory, and another autumn of harvest joy, the day drew on when they +must leave the farm. And still to Annie it seemed as far off as ever. + + + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +One lovely evening in October, when the shadows were falling from the +western sun, and the light that made them was as yellow as a marigold, +and a keen little wind was just getting ready to come out and blow the +moment the sun would be out of sight, Annie, who was helping to fasten +up the cows for the night, drawing iron chains round their soft necks, +saw a long shadow coming in at the narrow entrance of the yard. It came +in and in; and was so long in coming in, that she began to feel as if +it was something not quite _cannie_, and to fancy herself frightened. +But, at length, she found that the cause of the great shadow was only a +little man; and that this little man was no other than her father's +cousin, Robert Bruce. Alas! how little a man may cast a great shadow! + +He came up to Annie, and addressed her in the smoothest voice he could +find, fumbling at the same time in his coat-pocket. + +"Hoo are ye the nicht dawtie? Are ye verra weel? An' hoo's yer auntie?" + +He waited for no reply to any of these questions, but went on. + +"See what I hae brocht ye frae the chop." + +So saying, he put into her hand about half-a-dozen _sweeties_, screwed +up in a bit of paper. With this gift he left her, and walked on to the +open door of the house, which, as a cousin, he considered himself +privileged to enter unannounced even by a knock. He found the mistress +of it in the kitchen, superintending the cooking of the supper. + +"Hoo are ye the nicht, Marget?" he said, still in a tone of +conciliatory smoothness, through which, however, he could not prevent a +certain hardness from cropping out plentifully. "Ye're busy as usual, I +see. Weel, the hand o' the diligent maketh rich, ye ken." + +"That portion o' the Word maun be o' leemited application, I doot," +returned Marget, as, withdrawing her hand from her cousin's, she turned +again to the pot hanging over the fire. "No man daurs to say that my +han' has not been the han' o' the diligent; but Guid kens I'm nane the +richer." + +"We maunna repine, Marget. Richt or wrang, it's the Lord's will." + +"It's easy to you, Robert Bruce, wi' yer siller i' the bank, to speik +that gait til a puir lone body like me, that maun slave for my bread +whan I'm no sae young as I micht be. No that I'm like to dee o' auld +age either." + +"I haena sae muckle i' the bank as some folk may think; though what +there is is safe eneuch. But I hae a bonny business doun yonner, and it +micht be better yet. It's jist the land o' Goshen, only it wants a +wheen mair tap-dressin'." + +"Tak it frae the bank, than, Robert." + +"The bank! said ye, Marget? I canna do that." + +"And what for no?" + +"'Cause I'm jist like the hens, Marget. Gin they dinna see ae egg i' +the nest, they hae no hert to lay anither. I daurna meddle wi' the +bank." + +"Weel, lat sit than; an' lay awa' at yer leisur'. Hoo's the mistress?" + +"No that weel, and no that ill. The faimily's rather sair upo' her. But +I canna haud her oot o' the chop for a' that. She's like mysel'--she +wad aye be turnin' a bawbee. But what are ye gaein to do yersel', +Marget?" + +"I'm gaein to my uncle and aunt--auld John Peterson and his wife. +They're gey and frail noo, and they want somebody to luik efter them." + +"Than ye're weel provided for; Praise be thankit! Marget." + +"Ow, ay; nae doot," replied Marget, with bitterness, of which Bruce +took no notice. + +"And what's to come o' the bairnie?" pursued he. + +"I maun jist get some dacent auld body i' the toon to tak' her in, and +lat her gang to the schuil. It's time. The auld fowk wadna pit up wi' +her a week." + +"And what'll that cost ye, Marget?" + +"I dinna ken. But the lassie's able to pay for her ain upbringin'." + +"It's no far 'at a hunner and fifty'll gang i' thae times, woman. An' +it's a pity to tak frae the prencipal. She'll be merryin' some day." + +"Ow, 'deed, maybe. Bairns will be fules." + +"Weel, end na ye pit it oot at five per cent., and there wad aye be +something comin' o' 't? That wad be seven pun' ten i' the year, an' the +bairnie micht amaist--no freely but nigh-han'--be broucht up upo' +that." + +Margaret lifted her head and looked at him. + +"An' wha wad gie five per cent. for her bit siller, whan he can get it +frae the bank, on guid security, for four an' a half?" + +"Jist mysel', Marget. The puir orphan has naebody but you and me to +luik till; an' I wad willin'ly do that muckle for her. I'll tell ye +what--I'll gie her five per cent. for her siller; and for the bit +interest, I'll tak her in wi' my ain bairns, an' she s' hae bit and sup +wi' them, an' gang to the school wi' them, and syne--efter a bit--we'll +see what comes neist." + +To Margaret this seemed a very fair offer. It was known to all that the +Bruce children were well-enough dressed for their station, and looked +well-fed; and although Robert had the character of being somewhat mean, +she did not regard that as the worst possible fault, or one likely to +operate for the injury of the child. So she told her cousin that she +would think about it; which was quite as much as he could have +expected. He took his leave all but satisfied that he had carried his +point, and not a little uplifted with his prospects. + +For was it not a point worth carrying--to get both the money and the +owner of it into his own hands? Not that he meant conscious dishonesty +to Annie. He only rejoiced to think that he would thus satisfy any +expectations that the public might have formed of him, and would enjoy +besides a splendid increase of capital for his business; while he hoped +to keep the girl upon less than the interest would come to. And then, +if anything should happen to her--seeing she was not over vigorous--the +result was worth waiting for; whereas--if she throve--he had sons +growing up, one of whom might take a fancy to the heiress, and would +have facilities for marrying her, &c. &c.; for Grocer Robert was as +deep in his foresight and scheming as King Robert, the crowning triumph +of whose intellect, in the eyes of his descendant, was the strewing of +the caltrops on the field of Bannockburn. + +But James Dow was _ill-pleased_ when he heard of the arrangement--which +was completed in due time. "For," said he, "I canna bide that Bruce. +He's a naisty mean cratur. He wadna fling a bane till a dog, afore he +had ta'en a pyke at it himsel'." He agreed, however, with his mistress, +that it would be better to keep Annie in ignorance of her destiny as +long as possible; a consideration which sprung from the fact that her +aunt, now that she was on the eve of parting with her, felt a little +delicate growth of tenderness sprouting over the old stone wall of her +affection for the child, owing its birth, in part, to the doubt whether +she would be comfortable in her new home. + + + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +A day that is fifty years off comes as certainly as if it had been in +the next week; and Annie's feeling of infinite duration did not stop +the sand-glass of Old Time. The day arrived when everything was to be +sold by public _roup_. A great company of friends, neighbours, and +acquaintances gathered; and much drinking of whisky-punch went on in +the kitchen as well as in the room where, a few months before, the +solemn funeral-assembly had met. + +Little Annie speedily understood what all the bustle meant: that the +day of desolation so long foretold by the Cassandra-croak of her aunt, +had at length actually arrived, and that all the things she knew so +well were vanishing from her sight for ever. + +She was in the barn when the sound of the auctioneer's voice in the +corn-yard made her look over the half-door and listen. Gradually the +truth dawned upon her; and she burst into tears over an old rake which +she had been accustomed to call hers, because she had always dragged it +at hay-making. Then wiping her eyes hastily--for, partly from her +aunt's hardness, she never could bear to be seen crying, even when a +child--she fled to Brownie's stall, and burying herself in the manger, +began weeping afresh. After a while, the fountain of tears was for the +time exhausted, and she sat disconsolately gazing at the old cow +feeding away, as if food were everything and a _roup_ nothing at all, +when footsteps approached the _byre_, and, to her dismay, two men, whom +she did not know, came in, untied Brownie, and actually led her away +from before her eyes. She still stared at the empty space where Brownie +had stood,--stared like a creature stranded by night on the low coast +of Death, before whose eyes in the morning the sea of Life is visibly +ebbing away. At last she started up. How could she sit there without +Brownie! Sobbing so that she could not breathe, she rushed across the +yard, into the crowded and desecrated house, and up the stair to her +own little room, where she threw herself on the bed, buried her eyes in +the pillow, and, overcome with grief, fell fast asleep. + +When she woke in the morning, she remembered nothing of Betty's +undressing and putting her to bed. The dreadful day that was gone +seemed only a dreadful dream, that had left a pain behind it. But when +she went out, she found that yesterday would not stay amongst her +dreams. Brownie's stall was empty. The horses were all gone, and many +of the cattle. Those that remained looked like creatures forgotten. The +pigs were gone, and most of the poultry. Two or three favourite hens +were left, which auntie was going to take with her. But of all the +living creatures she had loved, not one had been kept for Annie. Her +life grew bitter with the bitterness of death. + +In the afternoon, her aunt came up to her room, where she sat in +tearful silence, and telling her that she was going to take her into +the town, proceeded, without further explanation, to put all her little +personal effects into an old hair-trunk, which Annie called her own. +Along with some trifles that lay about the room, she threw into the +bottom of the box about a dozen of old books, which had been on the +chest of drawers since long before Annie could remember. She, poor +child, let her do as she pleased, and asked no questions; for the +shadow in which she stood was darkening, and she did not care what came +next. For an hour the box stood on the floor like a coffin, and then +Betty came, with red eyes and a red nose, and carried it downstairs. +Then auntie came up again, dressed in her Sunday clothes. She put on +Annie's best frock and bonnet--adorning the victim for sacrifice--at +least, so Annie's face would have suggested--and led her down to the +door. There stood a horse and cart. In the cart was some straw, and a +sack stuffed with hay. As auntie was getting into the cart, Betty +rushed out from somewhere upon Annie, caught her up, kissed her in a +vehement and disorderly manner, and before her mistress could turn +round in the cart, gave her into James Dow's arms, and vanished with +strange sounds of choking. Dowie thought to put her in with a kiss, for +he dared not speak; but Annie's arms went round his neck, and she clung +to him sobbing--clung till she roused the indignation of auntie, at the +first sound of whose voice, Dowie was free, and Annie lying in the +cart, with her face buried in the straw. Dowie then mounted in front, +with his feet on the shaft; the horse--one Annie did not know--started +off gently; and she was borne away helpless to meet the unknown. + +And the road was like the going. She had often been upon it before, but +it had never looked as it did now. The first half-mile went through +fields whose crops were gone. The stubble was sticking through the +grass, and the potato stalks, which ought to have been gathered and +burnt, lay scattered about all over the brown earth. Then came two +miles of moorland country, high, and bleak, and barren, with hillocks +of peat in all directions, standing beside the black holes whence they +had been dug. These holes were full of dark water, frightful to look +at; while along the side of the road went deep black ditches half-full +of the same dark water. There was no danger of the cart getting into +them, for the ruts were too deep to let the wheels out; but it jolted +so dreadfully from side to side, as it crawled along, that Annie was +afraid every other moment of being tilted into one of the frightful +pools. Across the waste floated now and then the cry of a bird, but +other sound there was none in this land of drearihead. Next came some +scattered and ragged fields, the skirts of cultivation, which seemed to +draw closer and closer together, while the soil grew richer and more +hopeful, till, after two miles more, they entered the first straggling +precincts of the grey market-town. + +By this time the stars were shining clear in the cold, frosty sky, and +candles or train-oil lamps were burning in most of the houses; for all +these things took place long before gas had been heard of in those +quarters. A few faces were pressed close to the window-panes as the +cart passed; and some rather untidy women came to the house-doors to +look. And they spoke one to another words which, though inaudible +through the noise of the cart, were yet intelligible enough to Annie, +with her own forebodings to interpret the expression of their faces. + +"That'll be little Annie Anderson," they said. "She's gaein hame to +bide wi' her cousin, Robert Bruce, up i' the Wast Wynd. Puir wee +lassie!" + +For, on the way, Annie had been informed of her destination. + +But she was too miserable already, because of leaving her old home, to +care much to what new one she was going. Had it not been for the +absorption of this grief, she could not have been indifferent to the +prospect of going to live with her cousin, although her dislike to him +had never assumed a more active form than that of wishing to get away +from him, as often as he came near her. + +The cart stopped at Bruce's shop-door. It looked a heavy door, although +the upper half was of glass--in small panes. Dowie got down and went +into the shop; and before he returned Annie had time to make some +listless observations. The house was a low one, although of two +stories, built of grey stone, and thatched. The heavy door was between +two windows belonging to the shop, in each of which burned a single +tallow candle, revealing to the gaze of Annie, in all the enhancing +mystery of candlelight, what she could not but regard as a perfect mine +of treasures. For besides calico and sugar, and all the multifarious +stock in the combined trades of draper and grocer, Robert Bruce sold +penny toys, and halfpenny picture-books, and all kinds of confectionery +which had been as yet revealed to the belated generations of Glamerton. + +But she had not to contemplate these wonders long from the outside; for +Bruce came to the door, and, having greeted his cousin and helped her +down, turned to take Annie. Dowie had been before him, however, and now +held the pale child silent in his arms. He carried her into the shop, +and set her down on a sack that stood outside the counter, leaning +against it. He then went back to his horse's head. + +The sack made no bad seat, for it was half-full of turnip-seed; and +upon it Annie sat, and drearily surveyed the circumstances. + +Auntie was standing in the middle of the shop. Bruce was holding the +counter open, and inviting her to enter. + +"Ye'll come in and tak a cup o' tay, efter yer journey, Marget?" said +he. + +"Na, I thank ye, Robert Bruce. Jeames and I maun jist turn and gae hame +again. There's a hantle to look efter yet, and we maunna neglec' oor +wark. The hoose-gear's a' to be roupit the morn." + +Then turning to Annie, she said: + +"Noo, Annie, lass, ye'll be a guid bairn, and do as ye're tell't. An' +min' and no pyke the things i' the chop." + +A smile of peculiar import glimmered over Bruce's face at the sound of +this injunction. Annie made no reply, but stared at Mr Bruce, and sat +staring. + +"Good-bye to ye, Annie!" said her aunt, and roused her a little from +her stupor. + +She then gave her a kiss--the first, as far as the child knew, that she +had ever given her--and went out. Bruce followed her out, and Dowie +came in. He took her up in his arms, and said: + +"Good-bye to ye, my bonnie bairn. Be a guid lass, and ye'll be ta'en +care o'. Dinna forget that. Min' and say yer prayers." + +Annie kissed him with all her heart, but could not reply. He set her +down again, and went out. She heard the harness rattle, and the cart go +off. She was left sitting on the sack. + +Presently Mr Bruce came in, and passing behind his counter, proceeded +to make an entry in a book. It could have been no order from poor, +homeless Margaret. It was, in fact, a memorandum of the day and the +hour when Annie was set down on that same sack--so methodical was he! +And yet it was some time before he seemed to awake to the remembrance +of the presence of the child. Looking up suddenly at the pale, weary +thing, as she sat with her legs hanging lifelessly down the side of the +sack, he said--pretending to have forgotten her-- + +"Ow, bairn, are ye there yet?" + +And going round to her, he set her on the floor, and leading her by the +hand through the mysterious gate of the counter, and through a door +behind it, called in a sharp decided tone: + +"Mother, ye're wanted!" + +Thereupon a tall, thin, anxious-looking woman appeared, wiping her +hands in her apron. + +"This is little Miss Anderson," said Bruce, "come to bide wi's. Gie her +a biscuit, and tak' her up the stair till her bed." + +As it was the first, so it was the last time he called her _Miss_ +Anderson, at least while she was one of his household.--Mrs Bruce took +Annie by the hand in silence, and led her up two narrow stairs, into a +small room with a skylight. There, by the shine of the far-off stars, +she undressed her. But she forgot the biscuit; and, for the first time +in her life, Annie went supperless to bed. + +She lay for a while trying to fancy herself in Brownie's stall among +the grass and clover, and so get rid of the vague fear she felt at +being in a strange place without light, for she found it unpleasant not +to know what was next her in the dark. But the fate of Brownie and of +everything she had loved came back upon her; and the sorrow drove away +the fear, and she cried till she could cry no longer, and then she +slept. It is by means of sorrow, sometimes, that He gives his beloved +sleep. + + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +She woke early, rose, and dressed herself. But there was no water for +her to wash with, and she crept down-stairs to look for help in this +her first need. Nobody, however, was awake. She looked long and +wistfully at the house-door, but seeing that she could not open it, she +went back to her room. If she had been at home, she would soon have had +a joyous good-morrow from the burst of fresh wind meeting her as she +lifted the ready latch, to seek the companionship of yet earlier risers +than herself; but now she was as lonely as if she had anticipated the +hour of the resurrection, and was the little only one up of the buried +millions. All that she had left of that home was her box, and she would +have betaken herself to a desolate brooding over its contents; but it +had not been brought up, and neither could she carry it up herself, nor +would she open it in the kitchen where it stood. So she sat down on the +side of her bed, and gazed round the room. It was a cheerless room. At +home she had had chequered curtains to her bed: here there were none of +any kind; and her eyes rested on nothing but bare rafters and boards. +And there were holes in the roof and round the floor, which she did not +like. They were not large, but they were dreadful. For they were black, +nor did she know where they might go to. And she grew very cold. + +At length she heard some noise in the house, and in her present mood +any human noise was a sound of deliverance. It grew; was presently +enriched by the admixture of baby-screams, and the sound of the +shop-shutters being taken down; and at last footsteps approached her +door. Mrs Bruce entered, and finding her sitting dressed on her bed, +exclaimed: + +"Ow! ye call dress yersel! can ye?" + +"Ay, weel that," answered Annie, as cheerily as she could. "But," she +added, "I want some water to wash mysel' wi'." + +"Come doon to the pump, than," said Mrs Bruce. + +Annie followed her to the pump, where she washed in a tub. She then ran +dripping into the house for a towel, and was dried by the hands of Mrs +Bruce in her dirty apron.--This mode of washing lasted till the first +hoar-frost, after which there was a basin to be had in the kitchen, +with plenty of water and not much soap. + +By this time breakfast was nearly ready, and in a few minutes more, Mrs +Bruce called Mr Bruce from the shop, and the children from the yard, +and they all sat round the table in the kitchen--Mr Bruce to his tea +and oat-cake and butter--Mrs Bruce and the children to badly-made +oatmeal porridge and sky-blue milk. This quality of the milk was +remarkable, seeing they had cows of their own. But then they sold milk. +And if any customer had accused her of watering it, Mrs Bruce's best +answer would have been to show how much better what she sold was than +what she retained; for she put twice as much water in what she used for +her own family--with the exception of the portion destined for her +husband's tea, whose two graces were long and strong enough for a +better breakfast. But then his own was good enough. + +There were three children, two boys with great jaws--the elder rather +older than Annie--and a very little baby. After Mr Bruce had prayed for +the blessing of the Holy Spirit upon their food, they gobbled down +their breakfasts with all noises except articulate ones. When they had +finished--that is, eaten everything up--the Bible was brought; a psalm +was sung, after a fashion not very extraordinary to the ears of Annie, +or, indeed, of any one brought up in Scotland; a chapter was read--it +happened to tell the story of Jacob's speculations in the money-market +of his day and generation; and the _exercise_ concluded with a prayer +of a quarter of an hour, in which the God of Jacob especially was +invoked to bless the Bruces, His servants, in their basket and in their +store, and to prosper the labours of that day in particular. The prayer +would have been longer, but for the click of the latch of the +shop-door, which brought it to a speedier close than one might have +supposed even Mr Bruce's notions of decency would have permitted. And +almost before the _Amen_ was out of his month, he was out of the +kitchen. + +When he had served the early customer, he returned, and sitting down, +drew Annie towards him--between his knees, in fact, and addressed her +with great solemnity. + +"Noo, Annie," said he, "ye s' get the day to play yersel'; but ye maun +gang to the school the morn. We can hae no idle fowk i' this hoose, sae +we maun hae nae words aboot it." + +Annie was not one to make words about that or anything. She was only +too glad to get away from him. Indeed the prospect of school, after +what she had seen of the economy of her home, was rather enticing. So +she only answered, + +"Verra weel, sir. Will I gang the day?" + +Whereupon, finding her so tractable, Mr Bruce added, in the tone of one +conferring a great favour, and knowing that he did so, + +"Ye can come into the shop for the day, and see what's gaein on. Whan +ye're a muckle woman, ye may be fit to stan' ahin' the coonter some day +yersel'--wha kens?" + +Robert Bruce regarded the shop as his Bannockburn, where all his +enemies, namely customers, were to be defeated, that he might be +enriched with their spoils. It was, therefore, a place of so great +interest in his eyes, that he thought it must be interesting to +everybody else. And, indeed, the permission did awake some ill-grounded +expectations in the mind of Annie. + +She followed him into the shop, and saw quite a fabulous wealth of good +things around her; of which, however, lest she should put forth her +hand and take, the militant eyes of Robert Bruce never ceased watching +her, with quick-recurring glances, even while he was cajoling some +customer into a doubtful purchase. + +Long before dinner-time arrived, she was heartily sick of the monotony +of buying and selling in which she had no share. Not even a +picture-book was taken down from the window for her to look at; so that +she soon ceased to admire even the picture-books--a natural result of +the conviction that they belonged to a sphere above her reach. Mr +Bruce, on the other hand, looked upon them as far below the notice of +his children, although he derived a keen enjoyment from the +transference, by their allurements, of the half-pence of other children +from their pockets into his till. + +"Naisty trash o' lees," he remarked, apparently for Annie's behoof, as +he hung the fresh bait up in his window, after two little urchins, with +_bawbees_ to spend, had bought a couple of the radiant results of +literature and art combined. "Naisty trash o' lees--only fit for dirrty +laddies and lassies." + +He stood on the watch in his shop like a great spider that ate +children; and his windows were his web. + +They dined off salt herrings and potatoes--much better fare than bad +porridge and watered milk. Robert Bruce the younger, who inherited his +father's name and disposition, made faces at Annie across the table as +often as he judged it prudent to run the risk of discovery; but Annie +was too stupefied with the awful change to mind it much, and indeed +required all the attention she had at command, for the arrest of +herring bones on their way to her throat. + +After dinner, business was resumed in the shop, with at least the +resemblance of an increase of vigour, for Mrs Bruce went behind the +counter, and gave her husband time to sit down at the desk to write +letters and make out bills. Not that there was much of either sort of +clerkship necessary; but Bruce, like Chaucer's Man of Law, was so fond +of business, that he liked to seem busier than he was. As it happened +to be a half-holiday, Annie was sent with the rest of the children into +the garden to play up and down the walks. + +"An' min'," said Bruce, "an' haud oot ower frae the dog." + +In the garden Annie soon found herself at the mercy of those who had +none. + +It is marvellous what an amount of latent torment there is in boys, +ready to come out the moment an object presents itself. It is not +exactly cruelty. The child that tears the fly to pieces does not +represent to himself the sufferings the insect undergoes; he merely +yields to an impulse to disintegrate. So children, even ordinarily good +children, are ready to tease any child who simply looks teasable, and +so provokes the act. Now the Bruces were not good children, as was +natural; and they despised Annie because she was a girl, and because +she had no self-assertion. If she had shown herself aggressively +disagreeable, they would have made some attempt to conciliate her; but +as it was, she became at once the object of a succession of spiteful +annoyances, varying in intensity with the fluctuating invention of the +two boys. At one time they satisfied themselves with making grimaces of +as insulting a character as they could produce; at another they rose to +the rubbing of her face with dirt, or the tripping up of her heels. +Their persecution bewildered her, and the resulting stupefaction was a +kind of support to her for a time; but at last she could endure it no +longer, being really hurt by a fall, and ran crying into the shop, +where she sobbed out, + +"Please, sir, they winna lat me be." + +"Dinna come into the chop wi' yer stories. Mak' it up amo' yersels." + +"But they winna mak' it up." + +Robert Bruce rose indignant at such an interruption of his high +calling, and went out with the assumption of much parental grandeur. He +was instantly greeted with a torrent of assurances that Annie had +fallen, and then laid the blame upon them; whereupon he turned sternly +to her, and said-- + +"Annie, gin ye tell lees, ye'll go to hell." + +But paternal partiality did not prevent him from reading them also a +lesson, though of a quite different tone. + +"Mind, boys," he said, in a condescending whine, "that poor Annie has +neither father nor mither; an' ye maun be kind till her." + +He then turned and left them for the more important concerns +within-doors; and the persecution recommenced, though in a somewhat +mitigated form. The little wretches were perfectly unable to abstain +from indulging in a pleasure of such intensity. Annie had indeed fallen +upon evil days. + +I am thus minute in my description of her first day, that my reader, +understanding something similar of many following days, may be able to +give due weight to the influence of other events, when, in due time, +they come to be recorded. But I must not conclude the account without +mentioning something which befell her at the close of the same day, and +threatened to be productive of yet more suffering. + +After _worship_, the boys crawled away to bed, half-asleep already; or, +I should rather say, only half-awake from their prayers. Annie +lingered. + +"Can ye no tak' aff yer ain claes, as weel as pit them on, Annie?" +asked Mrs Bruce. + +"Ay, weel eneuch. Only I wad sair like a bittie o' can'le," was Annie's +trembling reply, for she had a sad foreboding instinct now. + +"Can'le! Na, na, bairn," answered Mrs Bruce. "Ye s' get no can'le here. +Ye wad hae the hoose in a low (flame) aboot oor lugs (ears). I canna +affoord can'les. Ye can jist mak' a can'le o' yer han's, and fin (feel) +yer gait up the twa stairs. There's thirteen steps to the firs, and +twal to the neist." + +With choking heart, but without reply, Annie went. + +Groping her way up the steep ascent, she found her room without any +difficulty. As it was again a clear, starlit night, there was light +enough for her to find everything she wanted; and the trouble at her +heart kept her imagination from being as active as it would otherwise +have been, in recalling the terrible stories of ghosts and dead people +with which she was far too familiar. She soon got into bed, and, as a +precautionary measure, buried her head under the clothes before she +began to say her prayers, which, under the circumstances, she had +thought she might be excused for leaving till she had lain down. But +her prayers were suddenly interrupted by a terrible noise of scrambling +and scratching and scampering in the very room beside her. + +"I tried to cry oot," she said afterwards, "for I kent 'at it was +rottans; but my tongue booed i' my mou' for fear, and I cudna speak ae +word." + +The child's fear of rats amounted to a frenzied horror. She dared not +move a finger. To get out of bed with those creatures running about the +room was as impossible as it was to cry out. But her heart did what her +tongue could not do--cried out with a great and bitter cry to one who +was more ready to hear than Robert and Nancy Bruce. And what her heart +cried was this: + +"O God, tak care o' me frae the rottans." + +There was no need to send an angel from heaven in answer to this little +one's prayer: the cat would do. Annie heard a scratch and a mew at the +door. The rats made one frantic scramble and were still. + +"It's pussy!" she cried, recovering the voice for joy that had failed +her for fear. + +Fortified by her arrival, and still more by the feeling that she was a +divine messenger sent to succour her because she had prayed, she sprang +out of bed, darted across the room, and opened the door to let her in. +A few moments and she was fast asleep, guarded by God's angel, the cat, +for whose entrance she took good care ever after to leave the door +ajar. + +There are ways of keeping the door of the mind also, ready as it is to +fall to, ajar for the cat. + + + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +"Noo, Annie, pit on yer bonnet, an' gang to the schuil wi' the lave +(rest); an' be a good girrl." + +This was the Bruce's parting address to Annie, before he left the +kitchen for the shop, after breakfast and worship had been duly +observed; and having just risen from his knees, his voice, as he +stooped over the child, retained all the sanctity of its last +occupation. It was a quarter to ten o'clock, and the school was some +five minutes distant. + +With a flutter of fearful hope, Annie obeyed. She ran upstairs, made +herself as tidy, as she could, smoothed her hair, put on her bonnet, +and had been waiting a long time at the door when her companions joined +her. It was very exciting to look forward to something that might not +be disagreeable. + +As they went, the boys got one on each side of her in a rather sociable +manner. But they had gone half the distance and not a word had been +spoken, when Robert Bruce, junior, opened the conversation abruptly. + +"Ye'll get it!" he said, as if he had been brooding upon the fact for +some time, and now it had broken out. + +"What'll I get?" asked Annie timidly, for his tone had already filled +her with apprehension. + +"Sic lickins," answered the little wretch, drawing back his lips till +his canine teeth were fully disclosed, as if he gloated in a +carnivorous sort of way over the prospect. "Wonna she, Johnnie?" + +"Ay wull she," answered Johnnie, following his leader with confidence. + +Annie's heart sank within her. The poor little heart was used to +sinking now. But she said nothing, resolved, if possible, to avoid all +occasion for "getting it." + +Not another word was spoken before they reached the school, the door of +which was not yet open. A good many boys and a few girls were +assembled, waiting for the master, and filling the lane, at the end of +which the school stood, with the sound of voices fluctuating through a +very comprehensive scale. In general the school-door was opened a few +minutes before the master's arrival, but on this occasion no one +happened to have gone to his house to fetch the key, and the scholars +had therefore to wait in the street. None of them took any notice of +Annie; so she was left to study the outside of the school. It was a +long, low, thatched building, of one story and a garret, with five +windows to the lane, and some behind, for she could see light through. +It had been a weaving-shop originally, full of hand-looms, when the +trade in linen was more prosperous than it was now. From the thatch +some of the night's frost was already dripping in slow clear drops. +Past the door, which was in a line with the windows, went a gutter, the +waters of which sank through a small grating a few steps further on. +But there was no water running in it now. + +Suddenly a boy cried out: "The maister's comin'!" and instantly the +noise sunk to a low murmur. Looking up the lane, which rose +considerably towards the other end, Annie saw the figure of the +descending dominie. He was dressed in what seemed to be black, but was +in reality gray, almost as good as black, and much more thrifty. He +came down the hill swinging his arms, like opposing pendulums, in a +manner that made the rapid pace at which he approached like a long slow +trot. With the door-key in his hand, already pointed towards the +key-hole, he went right through the little crowd, which cleared a wide +path for him, without word or gesture of greeting on either side. I +might almost say he swooped upon the door, for with one hand on the +key, and the other on the latch, he seemed to wrench it open the moment +he touched it. In he strode, followed at the heels by the troop of +boys, big and little, and lastly by the girls--last of all, at a short +distance, by Annie, like a motherless lamb that followed the flock, +because she did not know what else to do. She found she had to go down +a step into a sunk passage or lobby, and then up another step, through +a door on the left, into the school. There she saw a double row of +desks, with a clear space down the middle between the rows. Each +scholar was hurrying to his place at one of the desks, where, as he +arrived, he stood. The master already stood in solemn posture at the +nearer end of the room on a platform behind his desk, prepared to +commence the extempore prayer, which was printed in a kind of blotted +stereotype upon every one of their brains. Annie had hardly succeeded +in reaching a vacant place among the girls when he began. The boys were +as still as death while the master prayed; but a spectator might easily +have discovered that the chief good some of them got from the ceremony +was a perfect command of the organs of sound; for the restraint was +limited to those organs; and projected tongues, deprived of their +natural exercise, turned themselves, along with winking eyes, contorted +features, and a wild use of hands and arms, into the means of +telegraphic despatches to all parts of the room, throughout the +ceremony. The master, afraid of being himself detected in the attempt +to combine prayer and vision, kept his "eyelids screwed together +tight," and played the spy with his ears alone. The boys and girls, +understanding the source of their security perfectly, believed that the +eyelids of the master would keep faith with them, and so disported +themselves without fear in the delights of dumb show. + +As soon as the prayer was over they dropped, with no little noise and +bustle, into their seats. But presently Annie was rudely pushed out of +her seat by a hoydenish girl, who, arriving late, had stood outside the +door till the prayer was over, and then entered unperceived during the +subsequent confusion. Some little ones on the opposite form, however, +liking the look of her, and so wishing to have her for a companion, +made room for her beside them. The desks were double, so that the two +rows at each desk faced each other. + +"Bible-class come up," were the first words of the master, ringing +through the room, and resounding awfully in Annie's ears. + +A moment of chaos followed, during which all the boys and girls, +considered capable of reading the Bible, were arranging themselves in +one great crescent across the room in front of the master's desk. Each +read a verse--neither more nor less--often leaving the half of a +sentence to be taken up as a new subject in a new key; thus perverting +what was intended as an assistance to find the truth into a means of +hiding it--a process constantly repeated, and with far more serious +results, when the words of truth fall, not into the hands of the +incapable, but under the protection of the ambitious. + +The chapter that came in its turn was one to be pondered over by the +earnest student of human nature, not one to be blundered over by boys +who had still less reverence for humanity than they had for Scripture. +It was a good thing that they were not the sacred fountains of the New +Testament that were thus dabbled in--not, however, that the latter were +considered at all more precious or worthy; as Saturday and the Shorter +Catechism would show. + +Not knowing the will of the master, Annie had not dared to stand up +with the class, although she could read very fairly. A few moments +after it was dismissed she felt herself overshadowed by an awful +presence, and, looking up, saw, as she had expected, the face of the +master bending down over her. He proceeded to question her, but for +some time she was too frightened to give a rational account of her +acquirements, the best of which were certainly not of a kind to be +appreciated by the master, even if she had understood them herself +sufficiently to set them out before him. For, besides her aunt, who had +taught her to read, and nothing more, her only instructors had been +Nature, with her whole staff, including the sun, moon, and wind; the +grass, the corn, Brownie the cow, and her own faithful subject, Dowie. +Still, it was a great mortification to her to be put into the +spelling-book, which excluded her from the Bible-class. She was also +condemned to follow with an uncut quill, over and over again, a single +straight stroke, set her by the master. Dreadfully dreary she found it, +and over it she fell fast asleep. Her head dropped on her outstretched +arm, and the quill dropped from her sleeping fingers--for when Annie +slept she all slept. But she was soon roused by the voice of the +master. "Ann Anderson!" it called in a burst of thunder to her ear; and +she awoke to shame and confusion, amidst the titters of those around +her. + +Before the morning was over she was called up, along with some children +considerably younger than herself, to read and spell. The master stood +before them, armed with a long, thick strap of horse-hide, prepared by +steeping in brine, black and supple with constant use, and cut into +fingers at one end, which had been hardened in the fire. + +Now there was a little pale-faced, delicate-looking boy in the class, +who blundered a good deal. Every time he did so the cruel serpent of +leather went at him, coiling round his legs with a sudden, hissing +swash. This made him cry, and his tears blinded him so that he could +not even see the words which he had been unable to read before. But he +still attempted to go on, and still the instrument of torture went +swish-swash round his little thin legs, raising upon them, no doubt, +plentiful blue wales, to be revealed, when he was undressed for the +night, to the indignant eyes of pitying mother or aunt, who would yet +send him back to the school the next morning without fail. + +At length either the heart of the master was touched by the sight of +his sufferings and repressed weeping, or he saw that he was compelling +the impossible; for he stayed execution, and passed on to the next, who +was Annie. + +It was no wonder that the trembling child, who could read very fairly, +should yet, after such an introduction to the ways of school, fail +utterly in making anything like coherence of the sentence before her. +What she would have done, had she been left to herself, would have been +to take the little boy in her arms and cry too. As it was, she +struggled mightily with her tears, and yet she did not read to much +better purpose than the poor boy, who was still busy wiping his eyes +with his sleeves, alternately, for he never had had a handkerchief. But +being a new-comer, and a girl to boot, and her long frock affording no +facilities for this kind of incentive to learning, she escaped for the +time. + +It was a dreadful experience of life, though, that first day at school. +Well might the children have prayed with David--"Let us fall now into +the hand of the Lord, for his mercies are great; and let us not fall +into the hand of man." And well might the children at many another +school respond with a loud _Amen_! + +At one o'clock they were dismissed, and went home to dinner, to return +at three. + +In the afternoon she was set to make figures on a slate. She made +figures till her back ached. The monotony of this occupation was +relieved only by the sight of the execution of criminal law upon +various offending boys; for, as must be already partially evident, the +master was a hard man, with a severe, if not an altogether cruel +temper, and a quite savage sense of duty. The punishment was mostly in +the form of _pandies_,--blows delivered with varying force, but +generally with the full swing of the _tag_, as it was commonly called, +thrown over the master's shoulder, and brought down with the whole +strength of his powerful right arm upon the outstretched hand of the +culprit. But there were other modes of punishment, of which the +restraints of art would forbid the description, even if it were +possible for any writer to conquer his disgust so far as to attempt it. + +Annie shivered and quaked. Once she burst out crying, but managed to +choke her sobs, if she could not hide her tears. + +A fine-looking boy, three or four years older than herself, whose open +countenance was set off by masses of dark brown hair, was called up to +receive chastisement, merited or unmerited as the case might be; for +such a disposition as that of Murdoch Malison must have been more than +ordinarily liable to mistake. Justice, according to his idea, consisted +in vengeance. And he was fond of justice. He did not want to punish the +innocent, it is true; but I doubt whether the discovery of a boy's +innocence was not a disappointment to him. Without a word of +expostulation or defence, the boy held out his hand, with his arm at +full length, received four stinging blows upon it, grew very red in the +face, gave a kind of grotesque smile, and returned to his seat with the +suffering hand sent into retirement in his trowsers-pocket. Annie's +admiration of his courage as well as of his looks, though perhaps +unrecognizable as such by herself, may have had its share with her pity +in the tears that followed. Somehow or other, at all events, she made +up her mind to bear more patiently the persecutions of the little +Bruces, and, if ever her turn should come to be punished, as no doubt +it would, whether she deserved it or not, to try to take the whipping +as she had seen Alec Forbes take it. Poor Annie! If it should come to +that--nervous organizations are so different! + +At five, the school was dismissed for the day, not without another +extempore prayer. A succession of jubilant shouts arose as the boys +rushed out into the lane. Every day to them was a cycle of strife, +suffering, and deliverance. Birth and death, with the life-struggle +between, were shadowed out in it--with this difference, that the God of +a corrupt Calvinism, in the person of Murdoch Malison, ruled that +world, and not the God revealed in the man Christ Jesus. And most of +them having felt the day more or less a burden, were now going home to +heaven for the night. + +Annie, having no home, was amongst the few exceptions. Dispirited and +hopeless--a terrible condition for a child--she wondered how Alec +Forbes could be so merry. But he had had his evil things, and they were +over; while hers were all about her still. She had but one comfort +left--that no one would prevent her from creeping up to her own +desolate garret, which was now the dreary substitute for Brownie's +stall. Thither the persecuting boys were not likely to follow her. And +if the rats were in that garret, so was the cat; or at least the cat +knew the way to it. There she might think in peace about some things +about which she had never before seemed to have occasion to think. + + + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +Thus at home, if home it could be called, and at school, Annie's days +passed--as most days pass--with family resemblance and individual +difference wondrously mingled. She became interested in what she had to +learn, if not from the manner in which it was presented to her +comprehension, yet from the fact that she had to learn it. Happily or +unhappily, too, she began to get used to the sight of the penal +suffering of her schoolfellows. Nor had anything of the kind as yet +visited her; for it would have been hard for even a more savage master +than Mr Malison to find occasion, now that the first disabling +influences had passed away, to punish the nervous, delicate, anxious +little orphan, who was so diligent, and as quiet as a mouse that fears +to awake a sleeping cat. She had a scared look too, that might have +moved the heart of Malison even, if he had ever paid the least +attention to the looks of children. For the absence of human +companionship in bestial forms; the loss of green fields, free to her +as to the winds of heaven, and of country sounds and odours; and an +almost constant sense of oppression from the propinquity of one or +another whom she had cause to fear, were speedily working sad effects +upon her. The little colour she had died out of her cheek. Her face +grew thin, and her blue eyes looked wistful and large out of their +sulken cells. Not often were tears to be seen in them now, and yet they +looked well acquainted with tears--like fountains that had been full +yesterday. She never smiled, for there was nothing to make her smile. + +But she gained one thing by this desolation: the thought of her dead +father came to her, as it had never come before; and she began to love +him with an intensity she had known nothing of till now. Her mother had +died at her birth, and she had been her father's treasure; but in the +last period of his illness she had seen less of him, and the blank left +by his death had, therefore, come upon her gradually. Before she knew +what it was, she had begun to forget. In the minds of children the +grass grows very quickly over their buried dead. But now she learned +what death meant, or rather what love had been; not, however, as an +added grief: it comforted her to remember how her father had loved her; +and she said her prayers the oftener, because they seemed to go +somewhere near the place where her father was. She did not think of her +father being where God was, but of God being where her father was. + +The winter was drawing nearer too, and the days were now short and +cold. A watery time began, and for many days together the rain kept +falling without intermission. I almost think Annie would have died, but +for her dead father to think about. On one of those rainy days, +however, she began to find that it is in the nature of good things to +come in odd ways. It had rained the whole day, not tamely and +drizzingly, but in real earnest, dancing and rebounding from the pools, +and raising a mist by the very "crash of water-drops." Now and then the +school became silent, just to listen to the wide noise made by the busy +cataract of the heavens, each drop a messenger of good, a sweet +returning of earth's aspirations, in the form of Heaven's _Amen_! But +the boys thought only of the fun of dabbling in the torrents as they +went home; or the delights of net-fishing in the swollen and muddy +rivers, when the fish no longer see their way, but go wandering about +in perplexity, just as we human mortals do in a thick fog, whether of +the atmosphere or of circumstance. + +The afternoon was waning. It was nearly time to go; and still the rain +was pouring and plashing around. In the gathering gloom there had been +more than the usual amount of wandering from one part of the school to +another, and the elder Bruce had stolen to a form occupied by some +little boys, next to the one on which Annie sat with her back towards +them. If it was not the real object of his expedition, at least he took +the opportunity to give Annie a spiteful dig with his elbow; which, +operating even more powerfully than he had intended, forced from her an +involuntary cry. Now the master indulged in an occasional refinement of +the executive, which consisted in this: he threw the _tawse_ at the +offender, not so much for the sake of hurting--although that, being a +not infrequent result, may be supposed to have had a share in the +intention--as of humiliating; for the culprit had to bear the +instrument of torture back to the hands of the executioner. He threw +the tawse at Annie, half, let us suppose, in thoughtless cruelty, half +in evil jest. It struck her rather sharply, before she had recovered +breath after the blow Bruce had given her. Ready to faint with pain and +terror, she rose, pale as death, and staggered up to the master, +carrying the tawse with something of the same horror she would have +felt had it been a snake. With a grim smile, he sent her back to her +seat. The moment she reached it her self-control gave way, and she +burst into despairing, though silent tears. The desk was still shaking +with her sobs, and some of the girls were still laughing at her grief, +when a new occurrence attracted their attention. Through the noise of +the falling rain a still louder rushing of water was heard, and the +ears and eyes of all sought the source of the sound. Even Annie turned +her wet cheeks and overflowing eyes languidly towards the door. Mr +Malison went and opened it. A flood of brown water was pouring into the +sunk passage already described. The grating by which the rain-torrent +that flowed past the door should have escaped, had got choked, the +stream had been dammed back, and in a few moments more the room itself +would be flooded. Perceiving this, the master hastily dismissed his +pupils. + +There could be no better fun for most of the boys and some of the +girls, than to wade through the dirty water. Many of the boys dashed +through it at once, shoes and all; but some of the boys, and almost all +the girls, took off their shoes and stockings. When Annie got a peep of +the water, writhing and tumbling in the passage, it looked so ugly, +that she shrunk from fording it, especially if she must go in with her +bare feet. She could not tell what might be sweeping about in that +filthy whirlpool. She was still looking at it as it kept rising, in +pale perplexity and dismay, with the forgotten tears still creeping +down her checks, when she was caught up from behind by a boy, who, with +his shoes and stockings in one hand, now seated her on the other arm. +She peeped timidly round to see who it was, and the brave brown eyes of +Alec Forbes met hers, lighted by a kind, pitying smile. In that smile +the cloudy sky of the universe gently opened, and the face of God +looked out upon Annie. It gave her, for the moment, all that she had +been dying for want of for many weeks--weeks long as years. She could +not help it--she threw her arms round Alec Forbes's neck, laid her wet +cheek against his, and sobbed as if her heart would break. She did not +care for the Bruces, or the rats, or even the schoolmaster now. Alec +clasped her tighter, and vowed in his heart that if ever that brute +Malison lifted the tag to her, he would fly at his throat. He would +have carried her all the way home, for she was no great weight; but as +soon as they were out of the house Annie begged him to set her down so +earnestly, that he at once complied, and, bidding her good night, ran +home barefoot through the flooded roads. + +The Bruces had gone on with the two umbrellas, one of which, more to +her discomfort than protection, Annie had shared in coming to the +school; so that she was very wet before she got home. But no notice was +taken of the condition she was in; the consequence of which was a +severe cold and cough, which however, were not regarded as any +obstacles to her going to school the next day. + +That night she lay awake for a long time, and when at last she fell +asleep, she dreamed that she took Alec Forbes home to see her +father--out the street and the long road; over the black moor, and +through the fields; in at the door of the house, and up the stair to +her father's room, where he lay in bed. And she told him how kind Alec +had been to her, and how happy she was going to be now. And her father +put his hand out of the bed, and laid it on Alec's head, and said: +"Thank ye, Alec for being kind to my poor Annie." And then she cried, +and woke crying--strange tears out of dreamland, half of delicious +sorrow and half of trembling joy. + +With what altered feelings she seated herself after the prayer, next +day, and glanced round the room to catch a glimpse of her new friend! +There he was, radiant as usual. He took no notice of her, and she had +not expected that he would. But it was not long before he found out, +now that he was interested in her, that her cousins were by no means +friendly to her; for their seats were not far from the girl's quarter, +and they took every sheltered opportunity of giving her a pinch or a +shove, or of making vile grimaces at her. + +In the afternoon, while she was busy over an addition sum which was +more than usually obstinate, Robert came stealthily behind her, and, +licking his hand, watched his opportunity, and rubbed the sum from her +slate. The same moment he received a box on the ear, that no doubt +filled his head with more noises than that of the impact. He yelled +with rage and pain, and, catching sight of the administrator of justice +as he was returning to his seat, bawled out in a tone of fierce +complaint: "Sanny Forbes!" + +"Alexander Forbes! come up," responded the voice of the master. Forbes +not being a first-rate scholar, was not a favourite with him, for Mr +Malison had no sense for what was fine in character or disposition. Had +the name been that of one of his better Latin scholars, the cry of +Bruce would most likely have passed unheeded. + +"Hold up your hand," he said, without requesting or waiting for an +explanation. + +Alec obeyed. Annie gave a smothered shriek, and, tumbling from her +seat, rushed up to the master. When she found herself face to face with +the tyrant, however, not one word could she speak. She opened her +mouth, but throat and tongue refused their offices, and she stood +gasping. The master stared, his arm arrested in act to strike, and his +face turned over his left shoulder, with all the blackness of his anger +at Forbes lowering upon Annie. He stood thus for one awful moment, then +motioning her aside with a sweep of his head, brought down the tawse +upon the hand which Alec had continued to hold outstretched, with the +vehemence of accumulated wrath. Annie gave a choking cry, and Alec, so +violent was the pain, involuntarily withdrew his hand. But instantly, +ashamed of his weakness, he presented it again, and received the +remainder of his punishment without flinching. The master then turned +to Annie; and finding her still speechless, gave her a push that nearly +threw her on her face, and said, + +"Go to your seat, Ann Anderson. The next time you do that I will punish +you severely." + +Annie sat down, and neither sobbed nor cried. But it was days before +she recovered from the shock. Once, long after, when she was reading +about the smothering of the princes in the Tower, the whole of the +physical sensations of those terrible moments returned upon her, and +she sprang from her seat in a choking agony. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +For some time neither of the Bruces ventured even to make a wry face at +her in school; but their behaviour to her at home was only so much the +worse. + +Two days after the events recorded, as Annie was leaving the kitchen, +after worship, to go up to bed, Mr Bruce called her. + +"Annie Anderson," he said, "I want to speak to ye." + +Annie turned, trembling. + +"I see ye ken what it's aboot," he went on, staring her full in the +pale face, which grew paler as he stared. "Ye canna luik me i' the +face. Whaur's the candy-sugar an' the prunes? I ken weel eneuch whaur +they are, and sae do ye." + +"I ken naething aboot them," answered Annie, with a sudden revival of +energy. + +"Dinna lee, Annie. It's ill eneuch to steal, without leein'." + +"I'm no leein'," answered she, bursting into tears of indignation. "Wha +said 'at I took them?" + +"That's naething to the pint. Ye wadna greit that gait gin ye war +innocent. I never missed onything afore. And ye ken weel eneuch there's +an ee that sees a' thing, and ye canna hide frae hit." + +Bruce could hardly have intended that it was by inspiration from on +high that he had discovered the thief of his sweets. But he thought it +better to avoid mentioning that the informer was his own son Johnnie. +Johnnie, on his part, had thought it better not to mention that he had +been incited to the act by his brother Robert. And Robert had thought +it better not to mention that he did so partly to shield himself, and +partly out of revenge for the box on the ear which Alec Forbes had +given him. The information had been yielded to the inquisition of the +parent, who said with truth that he had never missed anything before; +although I suspect that a course of petty and cautious pilfering had at +length passed the narrow bounds within which it could be concealed from +the lynx eyes inherited from the kingly general. Possibly a bilious +attack, which confined the elder boy to the house for two or three +days, may have had something to do with the theft; but if Bruce had any +suspicions of the sort, he never gave utterance to them. + +"I dinna want to hide frae 't," cried Annie. "Guid kens," she went on +in desperation, "that I wadna touch a grain o' saut wantin' leave." + +"It's a pity, Annie, that some fowk dinna get their ain share o' Mr +Malison's tards." (_Tards_ was considered a more dignified word than +_tag_.) "I dinna like to lick ye mysel', 'cause ye're ither fowk's +bairn; but I can hardly haud my han's aff o' ye." + +It must not be supposed from this speech that Robert Bruce ever +ventured to lay his hands on his own children. He was too much afraid +of their mother, who, perfectly submissive and sympathetic in ordinary, +would have flown into the rage of a hen with chickens if even her own +husband had dared to chastise one of _her_ children. The shop might be +more Robert's than hers, but the children were more hers than Robert's. + +Overcome with shame and righteous anger, Annie burst out in the midst +of fresh tears: + +"I wish Auntie, wad come an tak me awa'! It's an ill hoose to be in." + +These words had a visible effect upon Bruce. He expected a visit from +Marget Anderson within a day or two; and he did not know what the +effect of the representations of Annie might be. The use of her money +had not been secured to him for any lengthened period--Dowie, anxious +to take all precautions for his little mistress, having consulted a +friendly lawyer on the subject, lest she should be left defenceless in +the hands of a man of whose moral qualities Dowie had no exalted +opinion. The sale having turned out better than had been expected, the +sum committed to Bruce was two hundred pounds, to lose which now would +be hardly less than ruin. He thought it better, therefore, not doubting +Annie to be the guilty person, to count the few lumps of sugar he might +lose, as an additional trifle of interest, and not quarrel with his +creditor for extorting it. So with the weak cunning of his kind, he +went to the shop, and bringing back a bit of sugar-candy, about the +size of a pigeon's egg, said to the still weeping child: + +"Dinna greit, Annie. I canna bide to see ye greitin'. Gin ye want a +bittie o' sugar ony time, jist tell me, an' dinna gang helpin' +yoursel'. That's a'. Hae." + +He thrust the lump into Annie's hand; but she dropped it on the floor +with disgust, and rushed up-stairs to her bed as fast as the darkness +would let her: where, notwithstanding her indignation, she was soon +fast asleep. + +Bruce searched for the sugar-candy which she had rejected, until he +found it. He then restored it to the drawer whence he had taken +it--which he could find in the dark with perfect ease--resolving as he +did so, to be more careful in future of offending little Annie +Anderson. + +When the day arrived upon which he expected Marget's visit, that being +a Saturday, Bruce was on the watch the whole afternoon. From his +shop-door he could see all along the street, and a good way beyond it; +and being very quick-sighted, he recognized Marget at a great distance +by her shawl, as she sat in a slow-nearing cart. + +"Annie!" he called, opening the inner door, as he returned behind the +counter. + +Annie, who was up-stairs in her own room, immediately appeared. + +"Annie," he said, "rin oot at the back door, and through the yard, and +ower to Laurie Lumley's, and tell him to come ower to me direckly. +Dinna come back withoot him. There's a guid bairn!" + +He sent her upon this message, knowing well enough that the man had +gone into the country that day, and that there was no one at his house +who would be likely to know where he had gone. He hoped, therefore, +that she would go and look for him in the town, and so be absent during +her aunt's visit. + +"Weel, Marget," he said, with his customary greeting, in which the +foreign oil sought to overcome the home-bred vinegar, "hoo are ye the +day?" + +"Ow! nae that ill," answered Marget with a sigh. + +"And hoo's Mr and Mistress Peterson?" + +"Brawly. Hoo's Annie comin' on?" + +"Nae that ill. She's some royt (riotous) jist." + +He thought to please her by the remark, because she had been in the +habit of saying so herself. But distance had made Annie dearer; and her +aunt's nose took fire with indignation, as she replied: + +"The lassie's weel eneuch. _I_ saw naething o' the sort aboot her. Gin +ye canna guide her, that's _your_ wyte." + +Bruce was abashed, but not confounded. He was ready in a moment. + +"I never kent ony guid come o' bein' ower sair upo' bairns," said he. +"She's as easy guidit as a coo gaein' hame at nicht, only ye maun jist +lat her ken that ye're there, ye ken." + +"Ow! ay," said Marget, a little nonplussed in her turn. + +"Wad ye like to see her?" + +"What ither did I come for?" + +"Weel, I s' gang and luik for her." + +He went to the back door, and called aloud: "Annie, yer auntie's here +and wants to see ye." + +"She'll be here in a minute," he said to Marget, as he re-entered the +shop. + +After a little more desultory conversation, he pretended to be +surprised that she she did not make her appearance, and going once more +to the door, called her name several times. He then pretended to search +for her in the garden and all over the house, and returned with the +news that she was nowhere to be seen. + +"She's feared that ye're come to tak her wi' ye, and she's run awa oot +aboot some gait. I'll sen' the laddies to luik for her." + +"Na, na, never min'. Gin she disna want to see me, I'm sure I needna +want to see her. I'll awa doon the toon," said Margaret, her face +growing very red as she spoke. + +She bustled out of the shop, too angry with Annie to say farewell to +Bruce. She had not gone far, however, before Annie came running out of +a narrow close, almost into her aunt's arms. But there was no refuge +for her there. + +"Ye little limmer!" cried Margaret, seizing her by the shoulder, "what +gart ye rin awa'? I dinna want ye, ye brat!" + +"I didna rin awa', Auntie." + +"Robert Bruce cried on ye to come in, himsel'." + +"It wis himsel' that sent me to Laurie Lumley's to tell him to come +till him direckly." + +Margaret could not make "head or tail" of it. But as Annie had never +told her a lie, she could not doubt her. So taking time to think about +it, she gave her some rough advice and a smooth penny, and went away on +her errands. She was not long in coming to the conclusion that Bruce +wanted to sunder her and the child; and this offended her so much, that +she did not go near the shop for a long time. Thus Annie was forsaken, +and Bruce had what he wanted. + +He needed not have been so full of scheming, though. Annie never said a +word to her aunt about their treatment of her. It is one of the marvels +in the constitution of children, how much they will bear without +complaining. Parents and guardians have no right to suppose that all is +well in the nursery or school-room, merely from the fact that the +children do not complain. Servants and tutors may be cruel, and +children will be silent--partly, I presume, because they forget so +soon. + +But vengeance of a sort soon overtook Robert Bruce the younger; for the +evil spirit in him, derived from no such remote ancestor as the king, +would not allow him a long respite from evil-doing, even in school. He +knew Annie better than his father, that she was not likely to complain +of anything, and that the only danger lay in the chance of being +discovered in the deed. One day when the master had left the room to +confer with some visitor at the door, he spied Annie in the act of +tying her shoe. Perceiving, as he believed, at a glance, that Alec +Forbes was totally unobservant, he gave her an ignominious push from +behind, which threw her out on her face in the middle of the floor. But +Alec did catch sight of him in the very deed, was down upon him in a +moment, and, having already proved that a box on the ear was of no +lasting effect, gave him a downright good thrashing. He howled +vigorously, partly from pain, partly in the hope that the same +consequences as before would overtake Forbes; and therefore was still +howling when Mr Malison re-entered. + +"Robert Bruce, come up," bawled he, the moment he opened the door. + +And Robert Bruce went up, and notwithstanding his protestations, +received a second, and far more painful punishment from the master, +who, perhaps, had been put out of temper by his visitor. But there is +no good in speculating on that or any other possibility in the matter; +for, as far at least as the boys could see, the master had no fixed +principle as to the party on whom the punishment should fall. +Punishment, in his eyes, was perhaps enough in itself. If he was +capable of seeing that _punishment_, as he called it, falling on the +wrong person, was not _punishment_, but only _suffering_, certainly he +had not seen the value of the distinction. + +If Bruce howled before, he howled tenfold now, and went home howling. +Annie was sorry for him, and tried to say a word of comfort to him; but +he repelled her advances with hatred and blows. As soon as he reached +the shop he told his father that Forbes had beaten him without his +having even spoken to him, which was as correct as it was untrue, and +that the master had taken Forbes's part, and _licked_ him over again, +of which latter assertion there was proof enough on his person. Robert +the elder was instantly filled with smouldering wrath, and from that +moment hated Alec Forbes. For, like many others of low nature, he had +yet some animal affection for his children, combined with an endless +amount of partisanship on their behalf, which latter gave him a full +right to the national motto of Scotland. Indeed, for nothing in the +world but money, would he have sacrificed what seemed to him their +interests. + +A man must learn to love his children, not because they are his, but +because they are _children_, else his love will be scarcely a better +thing at last than the party-spirit of the faithful politician. I doubt +if it will prove even so good a thing. + +From this hatred to Alec Forbes came some small consequences at length. +But for the present it found no outlet save in sneers and prophetic +hints of an "ill hinner en'." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +In her inmost heart Annie dedicated herself to the service of Alec +Forbes. Nor was it long before she had an opportunity of helping him. + +One Saturday the master made his appearance in black instead of white +stockings, which was regarded by the scholars as a bad omen; and fully +were their prognostications justified, on this occasion, at least. The +joy of the half-holiday for Scotch boys and girls has a terrible weight +laid in the opposite scale--I mean the other half of the day. This +weight, which brings the day pretty much on a level with all other +days, consists in a free use of the Shorter Catechism. This, of course, +made them hate the Catechism, though I am not aware that that was of +any great consequence, or much to be regretted. For my part, I wish the +spiritual engineers who constructed it had, after laying the grandest +foundation-stone that truth could afford them, glorified God by going +no further. Certainly many a man would have enjoyed Him sooner, if it +had not been for their work. But, alas! the Catechism was not enough, +even of the kind. The tormentors of youth had gone further, and +provided what they called Scripture proofs of the various assertions of +the Catechism; a support of which it stood greatly in need. Alas! I +say, for the boys and girls who had to learn these proofs, called texts +of Scripture, but too frequently only morsels torn bleeding and +shapeless from "the lovely form of the Virgin Truth!" For these tasks, +combined with the pains and penalties which accompanied failure, taught +them to dislike the Bible as well as the Catechism, and that was a +matter of altogether different import. + +Every Saturday, then, Murdoch Malison's pupils had to learn so many +questions of the Shorter Catechism, with proofs from Scripture; and +whoever failed in this task was condemmed to imprisonment for the +remainder of the day, or, at least, till the task should be +accomplished. The imprisonment was sometimes commuted for +chastisement--or finished off with it, when it did not suit the +convenience of the master to enforce the full term of a school-day. +Upon certain Saturdays, moreover, one in each month, I think, a +repetition was required of all the questions and proofs that had been, +or ought to have been, learned since the last observance of the same +sort. + +Now the day in question was one of these of accumulated labour, and +Alec Forbes only succeeded in bringing proof of his inability for the +task, and was in consequence condemned "to be keepit in"--a trial hard +enough for one whose chief delights were the open air and the active +exertion of every bodily power. + +Annie caught sight of his mortified countenance, the expression of +which, though she had not heard his doom, so filled her with concern +and indignation, that--her eyes and thoughts fixed upon him, at the +other end of the class--she did not know when her turn came, but +allowed the master to stand before her in bootless expectation. He did +not interrupt her, but with a refinement of cruelty that ought to have +done him credit in his own eyes, waited till the universal silence had +at length aroused Annie to self-consciousness and a sense of +annihilating confusion. Then, with a smile on his thin lips, but a +lowering thunder-cloud on his brow, he repeated the question: + +"What doth every sin deserve?" + +Annie, bewildered, and burning with shame at finding herself the core +of the silence--feeling is if her poor little spirit stood there naked +to the scoffs and jeers around--could not recall a word of the answer +given in the Catechism. So, in her bewilderment, she fell back on her +common sense and experience, which, she ought to have known, had +nothing to do with the matter in hand. + +"What doth every sin deserve?" again repeated the tyrant. + +"A lickin'," whimpered Annie, and burst into tears. + +The master seemed much inclined to consider her condemned out of her +own mouth, and give her a whipping at once; for it argued more than +ignorance to answer _a whipping_, instead of _the wrath and curse of +God_, &c., &c., as plainly set down in the Scotch Targum. But +reflecting, perhaps, that she was a girl, and a little one, and that +although it would be more gratification to him to whip her, it might be +equal suffering to her to be _kept in_, he gave that side wave of his +head which sealed the culprit's doom, and Annie took her place among +the condemned, with a flutter of joy at her heart that Alec Forbes +would not be left without a servant to wait upon him. A few more boys +made up the unfortunate party, but they were all little ones, and so +there was no companion for Forbes, who evidently felt the added +degradation of being alone. The hour arrived; the school was dismissed; +the master strode out, locking the door behind him; and the defaulters +were left alone, to chew the bitter cud of ill-cooked Theology. + +For some time a dreary silence reigned. Alec sat with his elbows on his +desk, biting his nails, and gnawing his hands. Annie sat dividing her +silent attention between her book and Alec. The other boys were, or +seemed to be, busy with their catechisms, in the hope of getting out as +soon as the master returned. At length Alec took out his knife, and +began, for very vacancy, to whittle away at the desk before him. When +Annie saw that, she crept across to his form, and sat down on the end +of it. Alec looked up at her, smiled, and went on with his whittling. +Annie slid a little nearer to him, and asked him to hear her say her +catechism. He consented, and she repeated the lesson perfectly. + +"Now let me hear you, Alec," she said. + +"Na, thank ye, Annie. I canna say't. And I wonna say't for a' the +dominies in creation." + +"But he'll lick ye, Alec; an' I 'canna bide it," said Annie, the tears +beginning to fill her eyes. + +"Weel, I'll try--to please you, Annie," said Alec, seeing that the +little thing was in earnest. + +How her heart bounded with delight! That great boy, so strong and so +brave, trying to learn a lesson to please her! + +But it would not do. + +"I canna min' a word o' 't, Annie. I'm dreidfu' hungry, forbye. I was +in a hurry wi' my brakfast the day. Gin I had kent what was comin', I +wad hae laid in a better stock," he added, laughing rather drearily. + +As he spoke he looked up; and his eyes wandered from one window to +another for a few moments after he had ceased speaking. + +"Na; it's no use," he resumed at last. "I hae eaten ower muckle for +that, ony gait." + +Annie was as pitiful over Alec's hunger as any mother over her child's. +She felt it pure injustice that he should ever be hungry. But, unable +to devise any help, she could only say, + +"I dinna ken what ye mean, Alec." + +"Whan I was na bigger than you, Annie, I could win oot at a less hole +than that," answered he, and pointed to the open wooden pane in an +upper corner of one the windows; "but I hae eaten ower muckle sin +syne." + +And he laughed again; but it was again an unsuccessful laugh. + +Annie sprang to her feet. + +"Gin ye could win throu that hole ance, I can win throu't noo, Alec. +Jist haud me up a bit. Ye _can_ lift me, ye ken." + +And she looked up at him shyly and gratefully. + +"But what will ye do when ye _are_ oot, Annie?" + +"Rin hame, and fess a loaf wi' me direckly." + +"But Rob Bruce'll see yer heid atween yer feet afore he'll gie ye a +loaf, or a mou'fu' o' cakes either; an' it's ower far to rin to my +mither's. Murdoch wad be back lang or that." + +"Jist help me oot, an' lea' the lave to me," said Annie, confidently. +"Gin I dinna fess a loaf o' white breid, never lippen (trust) to me +again." + +The idea of the bread, always a rarity and consequent delicacy to +Scotch country boys, so early in the century as the date of my story, +was too much for Alec's imagination. He jumped up, and put his head out +of one of those open panes to reconnoitre. He saw a woman approaching +whom he knew. + +"I say, Lizzie," he called. + +The woman stopped. + +"What's yer wull, Maister Alec?" + +"Jist stan' there an' pu' this lassie oot. We're a' keepit in +thegither, and nearhan' hungert." + +"The Lord preserve 's! I'll gang for the key." + +"Na, na; _we_ wad hae to pay for that. Tak her oot--that's a' we want." + +"He's a coorse crayter--that maister o' yours. I wad gang to see him +hangt." + +"Bide a wee; that'll come in guid time," said Alec, +pseudo-prophetically. + +"Weel I s' hae a pu' at the legs o' him, to help him to jeedgement; for +he'll be the deith o' ane or twa o' ye afore lang." + +"Never min' Murder Malison. Will ye tak oot the bit lassie?" + +"Od will I! Whaur is she?" + +Alec jumped down and held her up to the open pane, not a foot square. +He told her to put her arms through first. Then between them they got +her head through, whereupon Lizzie caught hold of her--so low was the +school-room--and dragged her out, and set her on her feet. But alas, a +window was broken in the process! + +"Noo, Annie," cried Alec, "never min' the window. Rin." + +She was off like a live bullet. + +She scampered home prepared to encounter all dangers. The worst of them +all to her mind was the danger of not succeeding, and of so breaking +faith with Alec. She had sixpence of her own in coppers in her +box,--the only difficulty was to get into the house and out again +without being seen. By employing the utmost care and circumspection, +she got in by the back or house door unperceived, and so up to her +room. In a moment more the six pennies were in her hand, and she in the +street; for she did not use the same amount of precaution in getting +out again, not minding discovery so much now, if she could only have a +fair start. No one followed her, however. She bolted into a baker's +shop. + +"A saxpenny-loaf," she panted out. + +"Wha wants it?" asked the baker's wife. + +"There's the bawbees," answered Annie, laying them on the counter. + +The baker's wife gave her the loaf, with the biscuit which, from time +immemorial, had always graced a purchase to the amount of sixpence; and +Annie sped back to the school like a runaway horse to his stable. + +As she approached, out popped the head of Alec Forbes. He had been +listening for the sound of her feet. She held up the loaf as high as +she could, and he stretched down as low as he could, and so their hands +met on the loaf. + +"Thank ye, Annie," said Alec with earnestness. "I shanna forget this. +Hoo got ye't?" + +"Never ye min' that. I didna steal't," answered Annie. "But I maun win +in again," she added, suddenly awaking to that difficult necessity, and +looking up at the window above her head. + +"I'm a predestined idiot!" said Alec, with an impious allusion to the +Shorter Catechism, as he scratched his helpless head. "I never thocht +o' that." + +It was clearly impossible. + +"Ye'll catch't," said one of the urchins to Annie, with his nose +flattened against the window. + +The roses of Annie's face turned pale, but she answered stoutly, + +"Weel! I care as little as the lave o' ye, I'm thinkin'." + +By this time the "idiot" had made up his mind. He never could make up +any other than a bull-headed mind. + +"Rin hame, Annie," he said; "and gin Murder offers to lay a finger o' +ye upo' Monday, _I'll_ murder him. Faith! I'll kill him. Rin hame afore +he comes and catches ye at the window." + +"No, no, Alec," pleaded Annie. + +"Haud yer tongue," interrupted Alec, "and rin, will ye?" + +Seeing he was quite determined, Annie, though loath to leave him, and +in terror of what was implied in the threats he uttered against the +master and might be involved in the execution of them, obeyed him and +walked leisurely home, avoiding the quarters in which there was a +chance of meeting her gaoler. + +She found that no one had observed her former visit; the only remarks +made being some _goody_ ones about the disgrace of being kept in. + +When Mr Malison returned to the school about four o'clock, he found all +quiet as death. The boys appeared totally absorbed in _committing_ the +Shorter Catechism, as if the Shorter Catechism was a sin, which perhaps +it was not. But, to his surprise, which he pretended to be considerably +greater than it really was, the girl was absent. + +"Where is Ann Anderson?" were the first words he condescended to utter. + +"Gane hame," cried two of the little prisoners. + +"Gone home!" echoed the master in a tone of savage incredulity; +although not only was it plain that she was gone, but he must have +known well enough, from former experience, how her escape had been +effected. + +"Yes," said Forbes; "it was me made her go. I put her out at the +window. And I broke the window," he added, knowing that it must soon be +found out, "but I'll get it mended on Monday." + +Malison turned as white as a sheet with venomous rage. Indeed, the +hopelessness of the situation had made Alec speak with too much +nonchalance. + +Anxious to curry favour, the third youngster now called out, + +"Sandy Forbes gart her gang an' fess a loaf o' white breid." + +Of this bread, the wretched informer had still some of the crumbs +sticking to his jacket--so vitiating is the influence of a reign of +terror. The bread was eaten, and the giver might be betrayed in the +hope of gaining a little favour with the tyrant. + +"Alexander Forbes, come up." + +Beyond this point I will not here prosecute the narrative. + +Alec bore his punishment with great firmness, although there were few +beholders, and none of them worth considering. After he had spent his +wrath, the master allowed them all to depart without further reference +to the Shorter Catechism. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +The Sunday following was anything but a day of repose for Annie--she +looked with such frightful anticipation to the coming Monday. Nor was +the assurance with which Alec Forbes had sent her away, and which she +was far from forgetting, by any means productive of unmingled +consolation; for, in a conflict with such a power of darkness as Mr +Malison, how could Alec, even if sure to be victorious as any knight of +old story, come off without injury terrible and not to be contemplated! +Yet, strange to tell--or was it really strange?--as she listened to the +evening sermon, a sermon quietly and gently enforcing the fate of the +ungodly, it was not with exultation at the tardy justice that would +overtake such men as Murdock Malison or Robert Bruce, nor yet with pity +for their fate, that she listened; but with anxious heart-aching fear +for her friend, the noble, the generous Alec Forbes, who withstood +authority, and was therefore in danger of hell-fire. About her own +doom, speculation was uninteresting. + +The awful morning dawned. When she woke, and the thought of what she +had to meet came back on her, though it could hardly be said to have +been a moment absent all night long, she turned, not metaphorically, +but physically sick. Yet breakfast time would come, and worship did not +fail to follow, and then to school she must go. There all went on as +usual for some time. The Bible-class was called up, heard, and +dismissed; and Annie was beginning to hope that the whole affair was +somehow or other wrapt up and laid by. She had heard nothing of Alec's +fate after she had left him imprisoned, and except a certain stoniness +in his look, which a single glance discovered, his face gave no sign. +She dared not lift her eyes from the spelling-book before her, to look +in the direction of the master. No murderer could have felt more keenly +as if all the universe were one eye, and that eye fixed on him, than +Annie. + +Suddenly the awful voice resounded through the school, and the words it +uttered--though even after she heard them it seemed too terrible to be +true--were, + +"Ann Anderson, come up." + +For a moment she lost consciousness--or at least memory. When she +recovered herself, she found herself standing before the master. His +voice seemed to have left two or three unanswered questions somewhere +in her head. What they were she had no idea. But presently he spoke +again, and, from the tone, what he said was evidently the repetition of +a question--probably put more than once before. + +"Did you, or did you not, go out at the window on Saturday?" + +She did not see that Alec Forbes had left his seat, and was slowly +lessening the distance between them and him. + +"Yes," she answered, trembling from head to foot. + +"Did you, or did you not, bring a loaf of bread to those who were kept +in?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Where did you get it?" + +"I bought it, sir." + +"Where did you get the money?" + +Of course every eye in the school was fixed upon her, those of her +cousins sparkling with delight. + +"I got it oot o' my ain kist, sir." + +"Hold up your hand." + +Annie obeyed, with a most pathetic dumb terror pleading in her face. + +"Don't touch her," said Alec Forbes, stepping between the executioner +and his victim. "You know well enough it was all my fault. I told you +so on Saturday." + +Murder Malison, as the boys called him, turned with the tawse over his +shoulder, whence it had been on the point of swooping upon Annie, and +answered him with a hissing blow over his down-bent head, followed by a +succession of furious blows upon every part of his person, as it +twisted and writhed and doubled; till, making no attempt at resistance, +he was knocked down by the storm, and lay prostrate under the fierce +lashes, the master holding him down with one foot, and laying on with +the whole force of the opposite arm. At length Malison stopped, +exhausted, and turning, white with rage, towards Annie, who was almost +in a fit with agony, repeated the order: + +"Hold up your hand." + +But as he turned Alec bounded to his feet, his face glowing, and his +eyes flashing, and getting round in front, sprang at the master's +throat, just as the tawse was descending. Malison threw him off, and +lifting his weapon once more, swept it with a stinging lash round his +head and face. Alec, feeling that this was no occasion on which to +regard the rules of fair fight, stooped his head, and rushed, like a +ram, or a negro, full tilt against the pit of Malison's stomach, and +doubling him up, sent him with a crash into the peat fire which was +glowing on the hearth. In the attempt to save himself, he thrust his +hand right into it, and Alec and Annie were avenged. + +Alec rushed to drag him off the fire; but he was up before he reached +him. + +"Go home!" he bawled to the scholars generally, and sat down at his +desk to hide his suffering. + +For one brief moment there was silence. Then a tumult arose, a +shouting, and holloing, and screeching, and the whole school rushed to +the door, as if the devil had been after them to catch the hindmost. +Strange uproar invaded the ears of Glamerton--strange, that is, at +eleven o'clock in the forenoon of Monday--the uproar of jubilant +freedom. + +But the culprits, Annie and Alec, stood and stared at the master, whose +face was covered with one hand, while the other hung helpless at his +side. Annie stopped partly out of pity for the despot, and partly +because Alec stopped. Alec stopped because he was the author of the +situation--at least he never could give any better reason. + +At length Mr Malison lifted his head, and made a movement towards his +hat. He started when he saw the two standing there. But the moment he +looked at them their courage failed them. + +"Rin, Annie!" said Alec. + +Away she bolted, and he after her, as well as he could, which was not +with his usual fleetness by any means. When Annie had rounded a corner, +not in the master's way home, she stopped, and looked back for Alec. He +was a good many paces behind her; and then first she discovered the +condition of her champion. For now that the excitement was over, he +could scarcely walk, and evidence in kind was not wanting that from +head to foot he must be one mass of wales and bruises. He put his hand +on her shoulder to help him along, and made no opposition to her +accompanying him as far as the gate of his mother's garden, which was +nearly a mile from the town, on the further bank of one of the rivers +watering the valley-plain in which Glamerton had stood for hundreds of +years. Then she went slowly home, bearing with her the memory of the +smile which, in spite of pain, had illuminated his tawse-waled cheeks, +as she took her leave. + +"Good-bye, dear Alec!" she had said. + +"Good-bye, Annie dear," he had answered, with the smile; and she had +watched him crawl into the house before she turned away. + +When she got home, she saw at once, from the black looks of the Bruce, +that the story, whether in its trite shape or not, had arrived before +her. + +Nothing was said, however, till after worship; when Bruce gave her a +long lecture, as impressive as the creature was capable of making it, +on the wickedness and certain punishment of "takin' up wi' ill loons +like Sandy Forbes, wha was brakin' his mither's hert wi' his baad +behaviour." But he came to the conclusion, as he confided to his wife +that night, that the lassie "was growin' hardent already;" probably +from her being in a state of too great excitement from the events of +the day to waste a tear upon his lecture; for, as she said in the +hearing of the rottans, when she went up to bed, she "_didna care a +flee for't_." But the moment she lay down she fell to weeping bitterly +over the sufferings of Alec. She was asleep in a moment after, however. +If it had not been for the power of sleeping that there was in the +child, she must long before now have given way to the hostile +influences around her, and died. + +There was considerable excitement about the hearths of Glamerton, +generally, in consequence of the news of the master's defeat carried +home by the children. For, although it was amazing how little of the +doings at school the children were in the habit of reporting--so +little, indeed, that this account involved revelations of the character +and proceedings of Mr Malison which appeared to many of the parents +quite incredible--the present occurrence so far surpassed the ordinary, +and had excited the beholders so much, that they could not be quiet +about it. Various were the judgments elicited by the story. The +religious portion of the community seemed to their children to side +with the master; the worldly--namely, those who did not profess to be +particularly religious--all sided with Alec Forbes; with the exception +of a fish-cadger, who had one son, the plague of his life. + +Amongst the religious, there was, at least, one exception, too; but he +had no children of his own, and had a fancy for Alec Forbes. That +exception was Thomas Crann, the stone-mason. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +Thomas Crann was building a house; for he was both contractor--in a +small way, it is true, not undertaking to do anything without the +advance of a good part of the estimate--and day-labourer at his own +job. Having arrived at the point in the process where the assistance of +a carpenter was necessary, he went to George Macwha, whom he found at +his bench, planing. This bench was in a work-shop, with two or three +more benches in it, some deals set up against the wall, a couple of red +cart-wheels sent in for repair, and the tools and materials of his +trade all about. The floor was covered with shavings, or _spales_, as +they are called by northern consent, which a poor woman was busy +gathering into a sack. After a short and gruff greeting on the part of +Crann, and a more cordial reply from Macwha, who ceased his labour to +attend to his visitor, they entered on the business-question, which +having been carefully and satisfactorily discussed, with the aid of +various diagrams upon the half-planed deal, Macwha returned to his +work, and the conversation took a more general scope, accompanied by +the sounds of Macwha's busy instrument. + +"A terrible laddie, that Sandy Forbes!" said the carpenter, with a sort +of laugh in the _whishk_ of his plane, as he threw off a splendid +_spale_. "They say he's lickit the dominie, and 'maist been the deid o' +him." + +"I hae kent waur laddies nor Sandy Forbes," was Thomas's curt reply. + +"Ow, deed ay! I ken naething agen the laddie. Him an' oor Willie's unco +throng." + +To this the sole answer Thomas gave was a grunt, and a silence of a few +seconds followed before he spoke, reverting to the point from which +they had started. + +"I'm no clear but Alec micht hae committed a waur sin than thrashin' +the dominie. He's a dour crater, that Murdoch Malison, wi' his fair +face and his picket words. I doot the bairns hae the warst o' 't in +general. And for Alec I hae great houpes. He comes o' a guid stock. His +father, honest man, was ane o' the Lord's ain, although he didna mak' +sic a stan' as, maybe, he ought to hae dune; and gin his mither has +been jist raither saft wi' him, and gi'en him ower lang a tether, he'll +come a' richt afore lang, for he's worth luikin efter." + +"I dinna richtly unnerstan' ye, Thamas." + +"I dinna think the Lord 'll tyne the grip o' his father's son. He's no +convertit yet, but he's weel worth convertin', for there's guid stuff +in him." + +Thomas did not consider how his common sense was running away with his +theology. But Macwha was not the man to bring him to book on that +score. His only reply lay in the careless _whishk whashk_ of his plane. +Thomas resumed: + +"He jist wants what ye want, Gleorge Macwha." + +"What's that, Thamas?" asked George, with a grim attempt at a smile, as +if to say: "I know what's coming, but I'm not going to mind it." + +"He jist wants to be weel shaken ower the mou' o' the pit. He maun +smell the brunstane o' the everlastin' burnin's. He's nane o' yer saft +buirds, that ye can sleek wi' a sweyp o' yer airm; he's a blue +whunstane that's hard to dress, but, anes dressed, it bides the weather +bonnie. I like to work upo' hard stane mysel. Nane o' yer saft +freestane, 'at ye cud cut wi' a k-nife, for me!" + +"Weel, I daursay ye're richt, Thamas." + +"And, forbye, they say he took a' his ain licks ohn said a word, and +flew at the maister only whan he was gaein to lick the puir orphan +lassie--Jeames Anderson's lassie, ye ken." + +"Ow! ay. It's the same tale they a' tell. I hae nae doobt it's +correck." + +"Weel, lat him tak it, than, an' be thankfu'! for it's no more than was +weel waured (spent) on him." + +With these conclusive words, Thomas departed. He was no sooner out of +the shop, than out started, from behind the deal boards that stood +against the wall, Willie, the eldest hope of the house of Macwha, a +dusky-skinned, black-eyed, curly-headed, roguish-looking boy, Alec +Forbes's companion and occasional accomplice. He was more mischievous +than Alec, and sometimes led him into unforeseen scrapes; but whenever +anything extensive had to be executed, Alec was always the leader. + +"What are ye hidin' for, ye rascal?" said his father. "What mischeef +hae ye been efter noo?" + +"Naething by ordinar'," was Willie's cool reply. + +"What garred ye hide, than?" + +"Tam Crann never sets ee upo' me, but he misca's me, an' I dinna like +to be misca'd, mair nor ither fowk." + +"Ye get nae mair nor ye deserve, I doobt," returned George. "Here, tak +the chisel, and cut that beadin' into len'ths." + +"I'm gaein' ower the water to speir efter Alec," was the excusatory +rejoinder. + +"Ay, ay! pot and pan!--What ails Alec noo?" + +"Mr Malison's nearhan' killed him. He hasna been at the schuil this twa +days." + +With these words Willie bolted from the shop, and set off at full +speed. The latter part of his statement was perfectly true. + +The day after the fight, Mr Malison came to the school as usual, but +with his arm in a sling. To Annie's dismay, Alec did not make his +appearance. + +It had of course been impossible to conceal his corporal condition from +his mother; and the heart of the widow so yearned over the suffering of +her son, though no confession of suffering escaped Alec's lips, that +she vowed in anger that he should never cross the door of that school +again. For three or four days she held immovably to her resolution, +much to Alec's annoyance, and to the consternation of Mr Malison, who +feared that he had not only lost a pupil, but made an enemy. For Mr +Malison had every reason for being as smooth-faced with the parents as +he always was: he had ulterior hopes in Glamerton. The clergyman was +getting old, and Mr Malison was a licentiate of the Church; and +although the people had no direct voice in the filling of the pulpit, +it was very desirable that a candidate should have none but friends in +the parish. + +Mr Malison made no allusion whatever to the events of Monday, and +things went on as usual in the school, with just one exception: for a +whole week the tawse did not make its appearance. This was owing in +part at least to the state of his hand; but if he had ever wished to be +freed from the necessity of using the lash, he might have derived hope +from the fact that somehow or other the boys were during this week no +worse than usual. I do not pretend to explain the fact, and beg leave +to refer it to occult meteorological influences. + +As soon as school was over on that first day of Alec's absence, Annie +darted off on the road to Howglen, where he lived, and never dropped +into a walk till she reached the garden-gate. Fully conscious of the +inferiority of her position, she went to the kitchen door. The door was +opened to her knock before she had recovered breath enough to speak. +The servant, seeing a girl with a shabby dress, and a dirty bonnet, +from underneath which hung disorderly masses of hair--they would have +_glinted_ in the eye of the sun, but in the eye of the maid they looked +only dusky and disreputable--for Annie was not kept so tidy on the +interest of her money as she had been at the farm--the girl, I say, +seeing this, and finding besides, as she thought, that Annie had +nothing to say, took her for a beggar, and returning into the kitchen, +brought her a piece of oat-cake, the common dole to the young +mendicants of the time. Annie's face flushed crimson, but she said +gently, having by this time got her runaway breath a little more under +control, + +"No, I thank ye; I'm no a beggar. I only wanted to ken hoo Alec was the +day." + +"Come in," said the girl, anxious to make some amends for her blunder, +"and I'll tell the mistress." + +Annie would gladly have objected, contenting herself with the maid's +own account; but she felt rather than understood that there would be +something undignified in refusing to face Alec's mother; so she +followed the maid into the kitchen, and sat down on the edge of a +wooden chair, like a perching bird, till she should return. + +"Please, mem, here's a lassie wantin' to ken hoo Maister Alec is the +day," said Mary, with the handle of the parlour door in her hand. + +"That must be little Annie Anderson, mamma," said Alec, who was lying +on the sofa very comfortable, considering what he had to lie upon. + +It may be guessed at once that Scotch was quite discouraged at home. + +Alec had told his mother all about the affair; and some of her friends +from Glamerton, who likewise had sons at the school, had called and +given their versions of the story, in which the prowess of Alec made +more of than in his own account. Indeed, all his fellow-scholars except +the young Bruces, sung his praises aloud; for, whatever the degree of +their affection for Alec, every one of them hated the master--a +terrible thought for him, if he had been able to appreciate it; but I +do not believe he had any suspicion of the fact that he was the centre +of converging thoughts of revengeful dislike. So the mother was proud +of her boy--far prouder than she was willing for him to see: indeed, +she put on the guise of the offended proprieties as much as she could +in his presence, thus making Alec feel like a culprit in hers, which +was more than she intended, or would have liked, could she have peeped +into his mind. So she could not help feeling some interest in Annie, +and some curiosity to see her. She had known James Anderson, her +father, and he had been her guest more than once when he had called +upon business. Everybody had liked him; and this general approbation +was owing to no lack of character, but to his genuine kindness of +heart. So Mrs Forbes was prejudiced in Annie's favour--but far more by +her own recollections of the father, than by her son's representations +of the daughter. + +"Tell her to come up, Mary," she said. + +So Annie, with all the disorganization of school about her, was shown, +considerably to her discomfort, into Mrs Forbes's dining-room. + +There was nothing remarkable in the room; but to Annie's eyes it seemed +magnificent, for carpet and curtains, sideboard and sofa, were luxuries +altogether strange to her eyes. So she entered very timidly, and stood +trembling and pale--for she rarely blushed except when angry--close to +the door. But Alec scrambled from the sofa, and taking hold of her by +both hands, pulled her up to his mother. + +"There she is, mamma!" he said. + +And Mrs Forbes, although her sense of the fitness of things was not +gratified at seeing her son treat with such familiarity a girl so +neglectedly attired, yet received her kindly and shook hands with her. + +"How do you do, Annie?" she said. + +"Quite well, I thank ye, mem," answered Annie, showing in her voice +that she was owerawed by the grand lady, yet mistress enough of her +manners not to forget a pretty modest courtesy as she spoke. + +"What's gaein' on at the school the day, Annie?" asked Alec. + +"Naething by ordidar," answered Annie, the sweetness of her tones +contrasting with the roughness of the dialect. "The maister's a hantle +quaieter than usual. I fancy he's a' the better behaved for's brunt +fingers. But, oh, Alec!" + +And here the little maiden burst into a passionate fit of crying. + +"What's the matter, Annie," said Mrs Forbes, as she drew her nearer, +genuinely concerned at the child's tears. + +"Oh! mem, ye didna see hoo the maister lickit him, or ye wad hae +grutten yersel'." + +Tears from some mysterious source sprang to Mrs Forbes's eyes. But at +the moment Mary opened the door, and said-- + +"Here's Maister Bruce, mem, wantin' to see ye." + +"Tell him to walk up, Mary." + +"Oh! no, no, mem; dinna lat him come till I'm out o' this. He'll tak' +me wi' him," cried Annie. + +Mary stood waiting the result. + +"But you must go home, you know, Annie," said Mrs Forbes, kindly. + +"Ay, but no wi' _him_," pleaded Annie. + +From what Mrs Forbes knew of the manners and character of Bruce, she +was not altogether surprised at Annie's reluctance. So, turning to the +maid, she said-- + +"Have you told Mr Bruce that Miss Anderson is here?" + +"Me tell him! No, mem. What's _his_ business?" + +"Mary, you forget yourself." + +"Weel, mem, I canna bide him." + +"Hold your tongue, Mary," said her mistress, hardly able to restrain +her own amusement, "and take the child into my room till he is gone. +But perhaps he knows you are here, Annie?" + +"He canna ken that, mem. He jumps at things whiles, though, sharp +eneuch." + +"Well, well! We shall see." + +So Mary led Annie away to the sanctuary of Mrs Forbes's bed-room. + +But the Bruce was not upon Annie's track at all. His visit wants a few +words of explanation. + +Bruce's father had been a faithful servant to Mr Forbes's father, who +held the same farm before his son, both having been what are called +gentlemen-farmers. The younger Bruce, being anxious to set up a shop, +had, for his father's sake, been assisted with money by the elder +Forbes. This money he had repaid before the death of the old man, who +had never asked any interest for it. More than a few years had not +passed before Bruce, who had a wonderful capacity for petty business, +was known to have accumulated some savings in the bank. Now the younger +Forbes, being considerably more enterprising than his father, had spent +all his capital upon improvements--draining, fencing, and such +like--when a younger brother, to whom he was greatly attached, applied +to him for help in an emergency, and he had nothing of his own within +his reach wherewith to aid him. In this difficulty he bethought him of +Bruce, to borrow from whom would not involve the exposure of the fact +that he was in any embarrassment, however temporary--an exposure very +undesirable in a country town like Glamerton. + +After a thorough investigation of the solvency of Mr Forbes, and a +proper delay for consideration besides, Bruce supplied him with a +hundred pounds upon personal bond, at the usual rate of interest, for a +certain term of years. Mr Forbes died soon after, leaving his affairs +in some embarrassment in consequence of his outlay. Mrs Forbes had paid +the interest of the debt now for two years; but, as the rent of the +farm was heavy, she found this additional trifle a burden. She had good +reason, however, to hope for better times, as the farm must soon +increase its yield. Mr Bruce, on his part, regarded the widow with +somewhat jealous eyes, because he very much doubted whether, when the +day arrived, she would be able to pay him the money she owed him. That +day was, however, not just at hand. It was this diversion of his +resources, and not the moral necessity for a nest-egg, as he had +represented the case to Margaret Anderson, which had urged him to show +hospitality to Annie Anderson and her little fortune. + +So neither was it anxiety for the welfare of Alec that induced him to +call on Mrs Forbes. Indeed if Malison had killed him outright, he would +have been rather pleased than otherwise. But he was in the habit of +reminding the widow of his existence by all occasional call, especially +when the time approached for the half-yearly payment of the interest. +And now the report of Alec's condition gave him a suitable pretext for +looking in upon his debtor, without, as he thought, appearing too +greedy after his money. + +"Weel, mem, hoo are ye the day?" said he, as he entered, rubbing his +hands. + +"Quite well, thank you, Mr Bruce. Take a seat." + +"An' hoo's Mr Alec?" + +"There he is to answer for himself," said Mrs Forbes, looking towards +the sofa. + +"Hoo are ye, Mr Alec, efter a' this?" said Bruce, turning towards him. + +"Quite well, thank you," answered Alec, in a tone that did not +altogether please either of the listeners. + +"I thocht ye had been raither sair, sir," returned Bruce, in an acid +tone. + +"I've got a wale or two, that's all," said Alec. + +"Weel, I houp it'll be a lesson to ye." + +"To Mr Malison, you should have said, Mr Bruce. I am perfectly +satisfied, for my part." + +His mother was surprised to hear him speak like a grown man, as well as +annoyed at his behaviour to Bruce, in whose power she feared they might +one day find themselves to their cost. But she said nothing. Bruce, +likewise, was rather nonplussed. He grinned a smile and was silent. + +"I hear you have taken James Anderson's daughter into your family now, +Mr Bruce." + +"Ow, ay, mem. There was nobody to luik efter the bit lassie; sae, +though I cud but ill affoord it, wi' my ain sma' faimily comin' up, I +was jist in a mainner obleeged to tak' her, Jeames Anderson bein' a +cousin o' my ain, ye ken, mem." + +"Well, I am sure it was very kind of you and Mrs Bruce. How does the +child get on?" + +"Middlin', mem, middlin'. She's jist some ill for takin' up wi' loons." + +Here he glanced at Alec, with an expression of successful spite. He +certainly had the best of it now. + +Alec was on the point of exclaiming "That's a lie," but he had prudence +enough to restrain himself, perceiving that the contradiction would +have a better chance with his mother if he delayed its utterance till +after the departure of Bruce. So, meantime, the subject was not +pursued. A little desultory conversation followed, and the visitor +departed, with a laugh from between his teeth as he took leave of Alec, +which I can only describe as embodying an _I told you so_ sort of +satisfaction. + +Almost as soon as he was out of the house the parlour-door opened, and +Mary brought in Annie. Mrs Forbes's eyes were instantly fixed on her +with mild astonishment, and something of a mother's tenderness awoke in +her heart towards the little maid-child. What would she not have given +for such a daughter! During Bruce's call, Mary had been busy with the +child. She had combed and brushed her thick brown hair, and, taken with +its exceeding beauty, had ventured on a stroke of originality no one +would have expected of her: she had left it hanging loose on her +shoulders. Any one would think such an impropriety impossible to a +Scotchwoman. But then she had been handling the hair, and contact with +anything alters so much one's theories about it. If Mary had found it +so, instead of making it so, she would have said it was "no dacent." +But the hair gave her its own theory before she had done with it, and +this was the result. She had also washed her face and hands and neck, +made the best she could of her poor, dingy dress, and put one of her +own Sunday collars upon her. + +Annie had submitted to it all without question; and thus adorned, Mary +introduced her again to the dining-room. Before Mrs Forbes had time to +discover that she was shocked, she was captivated by the pale, patient +face, and the longing blue eyes, that looked at her as if the child +felt that she ought to have been her mother, but somehow they had +missed each other. They gazed out of the shadows of the mass of dark +brown wavy hair that fell to her waist, and there was no more any need +for Alec to contradict Bruce's calumny. But Mrs Forbes was speedily +recalled to a sense of propriety by observing that Alec too was staring +at Annie with a mingling of amusement, admiration, and respect. + +"What have you been about, Mary?" she said, in a tone of attempted +reproof. "You have made a perfect fright of the child. Take her away." + +When Annie was once more brought back, with her hair restored to its +net, silent tears of mortification were still flowing down her +cheeks.--When Annie cried, the tears always rose and flowed without any +sound or convulsion. Rarely did she sob even.--This completed the +conquest of Mrs Forbes's heart. She drew the little one to her, and +kissed her, and Annie's tears instantly ceased to rise, while Mrs +Forbes wiped away those still lingering on her face. Mary then went to +get the tea, and Mrs Forbes having left the room for a moment to +recover that self-possession, the loss of which is peculiarly +objectionable to a Scotchwoman, Annie was left seated on a footstool +before the bright fire, the shadows from which were now dancing about +the darkening room, and Alec lay on the sofa looking at her. There was +no great occasion for his lying on the sofa, but his mother desired it, +and Alec had at present no particular objection. + +"I wadna like to be gran' fowk," mused Annie aloud, for getting that +she was not alone. + +"We're no gran' fowk, Annie," said Alec. + +"Ay are ye," returned Annie, persistently. + +"Weel, what for wadna ye like it?" + +"Ye maun be aye feared for blaudin' things." + +"Mamma wad tell ye a different story," rejoined Alec laughing. "There's +naething here to blaud (spoil)." + +Mrs Forbes returned. Tea was brought in. Annie comported herself like a +lady, and, after tea, ran home with mingled feelings of pleasure and +pain. For, notwithstanding her assertion that she would not like to be +"gran' fowk," the kitchen fire, small and dull, the smelling shop, and +her own dreary garret-room, did not seem more desirable from her peep +into the warmth and comfort of the house at Howglen. + +Questioned as to what had delayed her return from school, she told the +truth; that she had gone to ask after Alec Forbes, and that they had +kept her to tea. + +"I tauld them that ye ran efter the loons!" said Bruce triumphantly. +Then stung with the reflection that _he_ had not been asked to stay to +tea, he added: "It's no for the likes o' you, Annie, to gang to +gentlefowk's hooses, makin' free whaur ye're no wantit. Sae dinna lat +me hear the like again." + +But it was wonderful how Bruce's influence over Annie, an influence of +distress, was growing gradually weaker. He could make her uncomfortable +enough; but as to his opinion of her, she had almost reached the point +of not caring a straw for that. And she had faith enough in Alec to +hope that he would defend her from whatever Bruce might have said +against her. + +Whether Mary had been talking in the town, as is not improbable, about +little Annie Anderson's visit to her mistress, and so the story of the +hair came to be known, or not, I cannot tell; but it was a notable +coincidence that a few days after, Mrs Bruce came to the back-door, +with a great pair of shears in her hand, and calling Annie, said: + +"Here, Annie! Yer hair's ower lang. I maun jist clip it. It's giein ye +sair een." + +"There's naething the maitter wi' my een," said Annie gently. + +"Dinna answer back. Sit doon," returned Mrs Bruce, leading her into the +kitchen. + +Annie cared very little for her hair, and well enough remembered that +Mrs Forbes had said it made a fright of her; so it was with no great +reluctance that she submitted to the operation. Mrs Bruce chopped it +short off all round. As, however, this permitted what there was of it +to fall about her face, there being too little to confine in the usual +prison of the net, her appearance did not bear such marks of +deprivation, or, in other and Scotch words, "she didna luik sae +dockit," as might have been expected. + +Her wavy locks of rich brown were borne that night, by the careful hand +of Mrs Bruce, to Rob Guddle, the barber. Nor was the hand less careful +that brought back their equivalent in money. With a smile to her +husband, half loving and half cunning, Mrs Bruce dropped the amount +into the till. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +Although Alec Forbes was not a boy of quick receptivity as far as books +were concerned, and therefore was no favourite with Mr Malison, he was +not by any means a common or a stupid boy. His own eyes could teach him +more than books could, for he had a very quick observation of things +about him, both in what is commonly called nature and in humanity. He +knew all the birds, all their habits, and all their eggs. Not a boy in +Glamerton could find a nest quicker than he, or when found treated it +with such respect. For he never took young birds, and seldom more than +half of the eggs. Indeed he was rather an uncommon boy, having, along +with more than the usual amount of activity even for a boy, a +tenderness of heart altogether rare in boys. He was as familiar with +the domestic animals and their ways of feeling and acting as Annie +herself. Anything like cruelty he detested; and yet, as occasion will +show, he could execute stern justice. With the world of men around him, +he was equally conversant. He knew the characters of the simple people +wonderfully well; and _took to_ Thomas Crann more than to any one else, +notwithstanding that Thomas would read him a long lecture sometimes. To +these lectures Alec would listen seriously enough, believing Thomas to +be right; though he could never make up his mind to give any after +attention to what he required of him. + +The first time Alec met Thomas after the affair with the dominie, was +on the day before he was to go back to school; for his mother had +yielded at last to his entreaties. Thomas was building an addition to a +water-mill on the banks of the Glamour not far from where Alec lived, +and Alec had strolled along thither to see how the structure was going +on. He expected a sharp rebuke for his behaviour to Mr Malison, but +somehow he was not afraid of Thomas, and was resolved to face it out. +The first words Thomas uttered, however, were: + +"Weel, Alec, can ye tell me what was the name o' King Dawvid's mither?" + +"I can_not_, Thomas," answered Alec. "What was it?" + +"Fin' ye that oot. Turn ower yer Bible. Hae ye been back to the school +yet?" + +"No. I'm gaein the morn." + +"Ye're no gaein to strive wi' the maister afore nicht, are ye?" + +"I dinna ken," answered Alec. "Maybe he'll strive wi' me.--But ye ken, +Thomas," he continued, defending himself from what he supposed Thomas +was thinking, "King Dawvid himsel' killed the giant." + +"Ow! ay; a' richt. I'm no referrin' to that. Maybe ye did verra richt. +But tak care, Alec--" here Thomas paused from his work, and turning +towards the boy with a trowelful of mortar in his hand, spoke very +slowly and solemnly--"tak ye care that ye beir no malice against the +maister. Justice itsel," dune for the sake o' a private grudge, will +bunce back upo' the doer. I hae little doobt the maister'll be the +better for't; but gin ye be the waur, it'll be an ill job, Alec, my +man." + +"I hae no ill-will at him, Thomas." + +"Weel, jist watch yer ain hert, and bewaur ye o' that. I wad coonsel ye +to try and please him a grainie mair nor ordinar'. It's no that easy to +the carnal man, but ye ken we ought to crucify the auld man, wi' his +affections and lusts." + +"Weel, I'll try," said Alec, to whom it was not nearly so difficult as +Thomas imagined. His _man_ apparently was not very old yet. + +And he did try; and the master seemed to appreciate his endeavours, and +to accept them as a peace-offering, thus showing that he really was the +better for the punishment he had received. + +It would be great injustice to Mr Malison to judge him by the feeling +of the present day. It was the custom of the time and of the country to +use the tawse unsparingly; for _law_ having been, and still, in a great +measure, being, the highest idea generated of the divine by the +ordinary Scotch mind, it must be supported, at all risks even, by means +of the leather strap. In the hands of a wise and even-tempered man, no +harm could result from the use of this instrument of justice; but in +the hands of a fierce-tempered and therefore changeable man, of small +moral stature, and liable to prejudices and offence, it became the +means of unspeakable injury to those under his care; not the least of +which was the production, in delicate natures, of doubt and hesitancy, +sometimes deepening into cowardice and lying. + +Mr Malison had nothing of the childlike in himself, and consequently +never saw the mind of the child whose person he was assailing with a +battery of excruciating blows. A _man_ ought to be able to endure grief +suffering wrongfully, and be none the worse; but who dares demand that +of a child? Well it is for such masters that even they are judged by +the heart of a father, and not by the law of a king, that worst of all +the fictions of an ignorant and low theology. And if they must receive +punishment, at least it will not be the heartless punishment which they +inflicted on the boys and girls under their law. + +Annie began to be regarded as a protegee of Alec Forbes, and as Alec +was a favourite with most of his schoolfellows, and was feared where he +was not loved, even her cousins began to look upon her with something +like respect, and mitigate their persecutions. But she did not +therefore become much more reconciled to her position; for the habits +and customs of her home were distasteful to her, and its whole +atmosphere uncongenial. Nor could it have been otherwise in any house +where the entire anxiety was, first, to make money, and next, not to +spend it. The heads did not in the least know that they were unkind to +her. On the contrary, Bruce thought himself a pattern of generosity if +he gave her a scrap of string; and Mrs Bruce, when she said to +inquiring gossips "The bairn's like ither bairns--she's weel eneuch," +thought herself a pattern of justice or even of forbearance. But both +were jealous of her, in relation to their own children; and when Mrs +Forbes sent for her one Saturday, soon after her first visit, they +hardly concealed their annoyance at the preference shown her by one who +was under such great obligation to the parents of other children every +way superior to her whose very presence somehow or other made them +uncomfortable. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +The winter drew on--a season as different from the summer in those +northern latitudes, as if it belonged to another solar system. Cold and +stormy, it is yet full of delight for all beings that can either romp, +sleep, or think it through. But alas for the old and sickly, in poor +homes, with scanty food and firing! Little children suffer too, though +the gift of forgetfulness does for them what the gift of faith does for +their parents--helps them over many troubles, besides tingling fingers +and stony feet. There would be many tracks of those small feet in the +morning snow, leading away across the fresh-fallen clouds from the +house and cottage doors; for the barbarity of _morning-school_, that +is, an hour and a half of dreary lessons before breakfast, was in full +operation at Glamerton. + +The winter came. One morning, all the children awoke, and saw a white +world around them. Alec jumped out of bed in delight. It was a sunny, +frosty morning. The snow had fallen all night, with its own silence, +and no wind had interfered with the gracious alighting of the feathery +water. Every branch, every twig, was laden with its sparkling burden of +down-flickered flakes, and threw long lovely shadows on the smooth +featureless dazzle below. Away, away, stretched the outspread glory, +the only darkness in it being the line of the winding river. All the +snow that fell on it vanished, as death and hell shall one day vanish +in the fire of God. It flowed on, black through its banks of white. +Away again stretched the shine to the town, where every roof had the +sheet that was let down from heaven spread over it, and the streets lay +a foot deep in yet unsullied snow, soon, like the story of the ages, to +be trampled, soiled, wrought, and driven with human feet, till, at +last, God's strong sun would wipe it all away. + +From the door opening into this fairy-land, Alec sprang into the +untrodden space, as into a new America. He had discovered a world, +without even the print of human foot upon it. The keen air made him +happy; and the face of nature, looking as peaceful as the face of a +dead man dreaming of heaven, wrought in him jubilation and leaping. He +was at the school door before a human being had appeared in the streets +of Glamerton. Its dwellers all lay still under those sheets of snow, +which seemed to hold them asleep in its cold enchantment. + +Before any of his fellows made their appearance, he had kneaded and +piled a great heap of snowballs, and stood by his pyramid, prepared for +the offensive. He attacked the first that came, and soon there was a +troop of boys pelting away at him. But with his store of balls at his +foot, he was able to pay pretty fairly for what he received; till, that +being exhausted, he was forced to yield the unequal combat. By-and-by +the little ones gathered, with Annie amongst them; but they kept aloof, +for fear of the flying balls, for the boys had divided into two equal +parties, and were pelting away at each other. At length the woman who +had charge of the school-room, having finished lighting the fire, +opened the door, and Annie, who was very cold, made a run for it, +during a lull in the fury of the battle. + +"Stop," cried Alec; and the balling ceased, that Annie, followed by a +few others, might pass in safety through the midst of the combatants. +One boy, however, just as Annie was entering, threw a ball after her. +He missed her, but Alec did not miss him; for scarcely was the ball out +of his hand when he received another, right between his eyes. Over he +went, amidst a shout of satisfaction. + +When the master appeared at the top of the lane the fight came to a +close; and as he entered the school, the group round the fire broke up +and dispersed. Alec, having entered close behind the master, overtook +Annie as she went to her seat, for he had observed, as she ran into the +school, that she was lame--indeed limping considerably. + +"What's the maitter wi' ye, Annie?" he said. "What gars ye hirple?" + +"Juno bitet me," answered Annie. + +"Ay! Verra weel!" returned Alec, in a tone that had more meaning than +the words. + +Soon after the Bible-class was over, and they had all taken their +seats, a strange quiet stir and excitement gradually arose, like the +first motions of a whirlpool at the turn of the tide. The master became +aware of more than the usual flitting to and fro amongst the boys, just +like the coming and going which preludes the swarming of bees. But as +he had little or no constructive power, he never saw beyond the +symptoms. They were to him mere isolated facts, signifying present +disorder. + +"John Morison, go to your seat," he cried. + +John went. + +"Robert Rennie, go to your seat." + +Robert went. And this continued till, six having been thus passed by, +and a seventh appearing three forms from his own, the master, who +seldom stood it so long, could stand it no longer. The _tag_ was +thrown, and a _licking_ followed, making matters a little better from +the master's point of view. + +Now I will try to give, from the scholars' side, a peep of what passed. + +As soon as he was fairly seated, Alec said in a low voice across the +double desk to one of the boys opposite, calling him by his nickname, + +"I say, Divot, do ye ken Juno?" + +"Maybe no!" answered Divot. "But gin I dinna, my left leg dis." + +"I thocht ye kent the shape o' her teeth, man. Jist gie Scrumpie there +a dig i' the ribs." + +"What are ye efter, Divot? I'll gie ye a cloot o' the lug," growled +Scrumpie. + +"Hoot man! The General wants ye." + +_The General_ was Alec's nickname. + +"What is't, General?" + +"Do ye ken Juno?" + +"Hang the bitch! I ken her ower weel. She took her denner aff o' ane o' +my hips, ae day last year." + +"Jist creep ower to Cadger there, and speir gin he kens Juno. Maybe +he's forgotten her." + +Cadger's reply was interrupted by the interference of the master, but a +pantomimic gesture conveyed to the General sufficient assurance of the +retentiveness of Cadger's memory in regard to Juno and her favours. +Such messages and replies, notwithstanding more than one licking, kept +passing the whole of the morning. + +Now Juno was an animal of the dog kind, belonging to Robert Brace. She +had the nose and the legs of a bull-dog, but was not by any means +thorough-bred, and her behaviour was worse than her breed. She was a +great favourite with her master, who ostensibly kept her chained in his +back-yard for the protection of his house and property. But she was not +by any means popular with the rising generation. For she was given to +biting, with or without provocation, and every now and then she got +loose--upon sundry of which occasions she had bitten boys. Complaint +had been made to her owner, but without avail; for he only professed +great concern, and promised she should not get loose again, which +promise had been repeatedly broken. Various vows of vengeance had been +made, and forgotten. But now Alec Forbes had taken up the cause of +humanity and justice: for the brute had bitten Annie, and _she_ could +have given no provocation. + +It was soon understood throughout the school that war was to be made +upon Juno, and that every able-bodied boy must be ready when called out +by the General. The minute they were dismissed, which, at this season +of the year, took place at three o'clock, no interval being given for +dinner, because there was hardly any afternoon, the boys gathered in a +knot at the door. + +"What are ye gaein' to do, General?" asked one. + +"Kill her," answered Alec. + +"What way?" + +"Stane her to death, loons, like the man 'at brak the Sabbath." + +"Broken banes for broken skins--eh? Ay!" + +"The damned ill-faured brute, to bite Annie Anderson!" + +"But there's nae stanes to be gotten i' the snaw, General," said +Cadger. + +"Ye gomeril! Ye'll get mair stanes nor ye'll carry, I doobt, up o' the +side o' the toll-road yonner. Naething like road-metal!" + +A confused chorus of suggestions and exclamations now arose, in the +midst of which Willie Macwha, whose cognomen was Curly-pow, came up. He +was not often the last in a conspiracy. His arrival had for the moment +a sedative effect. + +"Here's Curly! Here's Curly!" + +"Weel, is't a' sattled?" asked he. + +"She's condemned, but no execute yet," said Grumpie. + +"Hoo are we to win at her?" asked Cadger. + +"That's jist the pint," said Divot. + +"We canna weel kill her in her ain yard," suggested Houghie. + +"Na. We maun bide our time, an' tak her when she's oot aboot," said the +General. + +"But wha's to ken that? an' hoo are we to gather?" asked Cadger, who +seemed both of a practical and a despondent turn of mind. + +"Noo, jist haud yer tongues, an' hearken to me," said Alec. + +The excited assembly was instantly silent. + +"The first thing," began Alec, "is to store plenty o' ammunition." + +"Ay, ay, General." + +"Haud yer tongues.--Whaur had we best stow the stanes, Curly?" + +"In oor yard. They'll never be noticed there." + +"That'll do. Some time the nicht, ye'll a' carry what stanes ye can +get--an' min' they're o' a serviceable natur'--to Curly's yard. He'll +be o' the ootluik for ye. An,' I say, Curly, doesna your riggin-stane +owerluik the maist o' the toon?" + +"Ay, General." + +"Ye can see our hoose frae't--canna ye?" + +"Ay." + +"Weel, ye jist buy a twa three blue lichts. Hae ye ony bawbees?" + +"Deil ane, General." + +"Hae than, there's fower an' a bawbee for expenses o' the war." + +"Thank ye, General." + +"Ye hae an auld gun, haena' ye?" + +"Ay have I; but she's nearhan' the rivin'." + +"Load her to the mou', and lat her rive. We'll may be hear't. But haud +weel oot ower frae her. Ye can lay a train, ye ken." + +"I s' tak care o' that, General." + +"Scrumpie, ye bide no that far frae the draigon's den. Ye jist keep yer +ee--nae the crookit ane--upo' her ootgoins an' incomins; or raither, ye +luik efter her comin oot, an' we'll a' luik efter her gaein in again. +Jist mak a regiment o' yer ain to watch her, and bring ye word o' her +proceedins. Ye can easy luik roun the neuk o' the back-yett, an' nobody +be a hair the wiser. As sune as ever ye spy her lowse i' the yard be +aff wi' ye to Willie Macwha. Syne, Curly, ye fire yer gun, and burn the +blue lichts o' the tap o' the hoose; and gin I see or hear the signal, +I'll be ower in seven minutes an' a half. Ilka ane o' ye 'at hears, +maun luik efter the neist; and sae we'll a' gether at Curly's. Fess yer +bags for the stanes, them 'at has bags." + +"But gin ye dinna see or hear, for it's a lang road, General?" +interposed Cadger. + +"Gin I'm no at your yard, Curly, in saiven minutes an' a half, sen' +Linkum efter me. He's the only ane o' ye 'at can rin. It's a' that he +can do, but he does't weel.--Whan Juno's ance oot, she's no in a hurry +in again." + +The boys separated and went home in a state of excitement, which +probably, however, interfered very little with their appetites, seeing +it was moderated in the mean time by the need and anticipation of their +dinners. + +The sun set now between two and three o'clock, and there were long +forenights to favour the plot. Perhaps their hatred of the dog would +not have driven them to such extreme measures, even although she had +bitten Annie Anderson, had her master been a favourite, or even +generally respected. But Alec knew well enough that the townsfolk were +not likely to sympathize with Bruce on the ill-treatment of his cur. + +When the dinner and the blazing fire had filled him so full of comfort +that he was once more ready to encounter the cold, Alec could stay in +the house no longer. + +"Where are you going, Alec?" said his mother. + +"Into the garden, mamma." + +"What can you want in the garden--full of snow?" + +"It's just the snow I want, mamma. It won't keep." + +And, in another moment, he was under the clear blue night-heaven, with +the keen frosty air blowing on his warm cheek, busy with a wheelbarrow +and a spade, slicing and shovelling in the snow. He was building a hut +of it, after the fashion of the Esquimaux hut, with a very thick +circular wall, which began to lean towards its own centre as soon as it +began to rise. This hut he had pitched at the foot of a flag-staff on +the green-�_lawn_ would be too grand a word for the hundred square feet +in front of his mother's house, though the grass which lay beneath the +snowy carpet was very green and lovely grass, smooth enough for any +lawn. In summer Alec had quite revelled in its greenness and softness, +as he lay on it reading the _Arabian Nights_ and the Ettrick Shepherd's +stories: now it was "white with the whiteness of what is dead;" for is +not the snow just dead water? The flag-staff he had got George Macwha +to erect for him, at a very small outlay; and he had himself fitted it +with shrouds and a cross-yard, and signal halliards; for he had always +a fancy for the sea, and boats, and rigging of all sorts. And he had a +great red flag, too, which he used to hoist on special occasions-�on +market-days and such like; and often besides when a good wind blew. And +very grand it looked, as it floated in the tide of the wind. + +Often he paused in his work, and turned-�and oftener without raising +himself he glanced towards the town; but no signal burned from the +ridge of Curly's house, and he went on with his labour. When called in +to tea, he gave a long wistful look townwards, but saw no sign. Out +again he went, but no blue fire rejoiced him that night with the news +that Juno was ranging the streets; and he was forced to go to bed at +last, and take refuge from his disappointment in sleep. + +The next day he strictly questioned all his officers as to the manner +in which they had fulfilled their duty, and found no just cause of +complaint. + +"In future," he said to Curly, with the importance of one who had the +affairs of boys and dogs upon his brain�-so that his style rose into +English�-"in future, Curly, you may always know I am at home when you +see the red flag flying from my flag-staff." + +"That's o' sma' service, General, i' the lang forenichts. A body canna +see freely so far." + +"But Linkum wad see't fleein', lang or he wan to the yett (gate)." + +"It wad flee nae mair nor a deid deuke i' this weather. It wad be +frozen as stiff's a buird." + +"Ye gowk! Do ye think fowk wash their flags afore they hing them oot, +like sarks or sheets? Dinna ye be ower clever, Curly, my man." + +Whereupon Curly shut up. + +****** + +"What are you in such a state about, Alec?" asked his mother. + +"Nothing very particular, mamma," answered Alec, ashamed of his want of +self-command. + +"You've looked out at the window twenty times in the last half-hour," +she persisted. + +"Curly promised to burn a blue light, and I wanted to see if I could +see it." + +Suspecting more, his mother was forced to be content with this answer. + +But that night was also passed without sight or sound. Juno kept safe +in her barrel, little thinking of the machinations against her in the +wide snow-covered country around. Alec finished the Esquimaux hut, and +the snow falling all night, the hut looked the next morning as if it +had been there all the winter. As it seemed likely that a long spell of +white weather had set in, Alec resolved to extend his original plan, +and carry a long snow passage, or covered vault, from the +lattice-window of a small closet, almost on a level with the ground, to +this retreat by the flag-staff. He was hard at work in the execution of +this project, on the third night, or rather late afternoon: they called +it _forenight_ there. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +"What can that be, mem, awa ower the toon there?" said Mary to her +mistress, as in passing she peeped out of the window, the blind of +which Alec had drawn up behind the curtain. + +"What is it, Mary?" + +"That's jist what I dinna ken, mem. It canna be the rory-bories, as +Alec ca's them. It's ower blue.--It's oot.--It's in agin.--It's no +canny.--And, preserves a'! it's crackin' as weel," cried Mary, as the +subdued sound of a far-off explosion reached her. + +This was of course no other than the roar of Curly's gun in the act of +bursting and vanishing; for neither stock, lock, nor barrel was ever +seen again. It left the world like a Norse king on his fire-ship. But, +at the moment, Alec was too busy in the depths of his snow-vault to +hear or see the signals. + +By-and-by a knock came to the kitchen door, Mary went and opened it. + +"Alec's at hame, I ken," said a rosy boy, almost breathless with past +speed and present excitement. + +"Hoo ken ye that, my man?" asked Mary. + +"'Cause the flag's fleein'. Whaur is he?" + +"Gin ye ken sae muckle aboot him already, ye can jist fin' him to +yersel'!" + +"The bick's oot!" panted Linkum. + +But Mary shut the door. + +"Here's a job!" said Linkum to himself. "I canna gang throu a steekit +door. And there's Juno wi' the rin o' the haill toun. Deil tak her!" + +But at the moment he heard Alec whistling a favourite tune, as he +shovelled away at the snow. + +"General!" cried Linkum, in ecstasy. + +"Here!" answered Alec, flinging his spade twenty feet from him, and +bolting in the direction of the call. "Is't you, Linkum?" + +"She's oot, General." + +"Deil hae her, gin ever she wins in again, the curst worryin' brute! +Did ye gang to Curly?" + +"Ay did I. He fired the gun, and brunt three blue lichts, and waited +seven minutes and a half; and syne he sent me for ye, General." + +"_Con_foon' 't," cried Alec, and tore through shrubbery and hedge, the +nearest way to the road, followed by Linkum, who even at full speed was +not a match for Alec. Away they flew like the wind, along the +well-beaten path to the town, over the footbridge that crossed the +Glamour, and full speed up the hill to Willie Macwha, who, with a dozen +or fifteen more, was anxiously waiting for the commander. They all had +their book-bags, pockets, and arms filled with stones lately broken for +mending the turnpike road, mostly granite, but partly whinstone and +flint. One bag was ready filled for Alec. + +"Noo," said the General, in the tone of Gideon of old, "gin ony o' ye +be fleyt at the brute, jist gang hame." + +"Ay! ay! General." + +But nobody stirred, for those who were afraid had slunk away the moment +they saw Alec coming up the hill, like the avenger of blood. + +"Wha's watchin' her?" + +"Doddles, Gapy, and Goat." + +"Whaur was she last seen?" + +"Takin' up wi' anither tyke on the squaure." + +"Doddles 'll be at the pump, to tell whaur's the ither twa and the +tyke." + +"Come along, then. This is hoo ye're to gang. We maunna a' gang +thegither. Some o' ye--you three--doon the Back Wynd; you sax, up Lucky +Hunter's Close; and the lave by Gowan Street; an' first at the pump +bides for the lave." + +"Hoo are we to mak the attack, General?" + +"I'll gie my orders as the case may demand," said Alec. + +And away they shot. + +The muffled sounds of the feet of the various companies as they +thundered past upon the snow, roused the old wives dozing over their +knitting by their fires of spent oak-bark; and according to her temper +would be the remark with which each startled dame turned again to her +former busy quiescence:--"Some mischeef o' the loons!" "Some ploy o' +the laddies!" "Some deevilry o' thae rascals frae Malison's school!" + +They reached the square almost together, and found Doddles at the pump; +who reported that Juno had gone down the inn-yard, and Gapey and Goat +were watching her. Now she must come out to get home again, for there +was no back-way; so by Alec's orders they dispersed a little to avoid +observation, and drew gradually between the entrance of the inn-yard, +and the way Juno would take to go home. + +The town was ordinarily lighted at night with oil lamps, but moonlight +and snow had rendered them for some time unnecessary. + +"Here she is! Here she is!" cried several at once in a hissing whisper +of excitement. "Lat at her!" + +"Haud still!" cried Alec. "Bide till I tell ye. Dinna ye see there's +Lang Tam's dog wi' her, an' he's done naething. Ye maunna punish the +innocent wi' the guilty." + +A moment after the dogs took their leave of each other, and Juno went, +at a slow slouching trot, in the direction of her own street. + +"Close in!" cried Alec. + +Juno found her way barred in a threatening manner, and sought to pass +meekly by. + +"Lat at her, boys!" cried the General. + +A storm of stones was their answer to the order; and a howl of rage and +pain burst from the animal. She turned; but found that she was the +centre of a circle of enemies. + +"Lat at her! Haud at her!" bawled Alec. + +And thick as hail the well-aimed stones flew from practised hands; +though of course in the frantic rushes of the dog to escape, not half +of them took effect. She darted first at one and then at another, +snapping wildly, and meeting with many a kick and blow in return. + +The neighbours began to look out at their shop-doors and their windows; +for the boys, rapt in the excitement of the sport, no longer laid any +restraint upon their cries. Andrew Constable, the clothier, from his +shop-door; Rob Guddle, the barber, from his window, with his face +shadowed by Annie's curls; Redford, the bookseller, from the top of the +stairs that led to his shop; in short, the whole of the shopkeepers on +the square of Glamerton were regarding this battle of odds. The +half-frozen place looked half-alive. But none of the good folks cared +much to interfere, for flying stones are not pleasant to encounter. And +indeed they could not clearly make out what was the matter.--In a +minute more, a sudden lull came over the hubbub. They saw all the group +gather together in a murmuring knot. + +The fact was this. Although cowardly enough now, the brute, infuriated +with pain, had made a determined rush at one of her antagonists, and a +short hand-to-teeth struggle was now taking place, during which the +stoning ceased. + +"She has a grip o' my leg," said Alec quietly; "and I hae a grip o' her +throat. Curly, pit yer han' i' my jacket-pooch, an' tak' oot a bit +towie ye'll fin' there." + +Curly did as he was desired, and drew out a yard and a half of +garden-line. + +"Jist pit it wi' ae single k-not roon' her neck, an' twa three o' ye +tak' a haud at ilka en', and pu' for the life o' ye!" + +They hauled with hearty vigour, Juno's teeth relaxed their hold of +Alec's calf; in another minute her tongue was hanging out her mouth, +and when they ceased the strain she lay limp on the snow. With a shout +of triumph, they started off at full speed, dragging the brute by the +neck through the street. Alec essayed to follow them; but found his leg +too painful; and was forced to go limping home. + +When the victors had run till they were out of breath, they stopped to +confer; and the result of their conference was that in solemn silence +they drew her home to the back gate, and finding all still in the yard, +deputed two of their company to lay the dead body in its kennel. + +Curly and Linkum drew her into the yard, tumbled her into her barrel, +which they set up on end, undid the string, and left Juno lying neck +and tail together in ignominious peace. + +"Before Alec reached home his leg had swollen very much, and was so +painful that he could hardly limp along; for Juno had taken no passing +snap, but a great strong mouthful. He concealed his condition from his +mother for that night; but next morning his leg was so bad, that there +was no longer a possibility of hiding the fact. To tell a lie would +have been so hard for Alec, that he had scarcely any merit in not +telling one. So there was nothing for it but confession. His mother +scolded him to a degree considerably beyond her own sense of the wrong, +telling him he would get her into disgrace in the town as the mother of +a lawless son, who meddled with other people's property in a way little +better than stealing. + +"I fancy, mamma, a loun's legs are aboot as muckle his ain property as +the tyke was Rob Bruce's. It's no the first time she's bitten half a +dizzen legs that were neither her ain nor her maister's." + +Mrs Forbes could not well answer this argument; so she took advantage +of the fact that Alec had, in the excitement of self-defence, lapsed +into Scotch. + +"Don't talk so vulgarly to me, Alec," she said; "keep that for your +ill-behaved companions in the town." + +"They are no worse than I am, mamma. _I_ was at the bottom of it." + +"I never said they were," she answered. + +But in her heart she thought if they were not, there was little amiss +with them. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +Alec was once more condemned to the sofa, and Annie had to miss him, +and wonder what had become of him. She always felt safe when Alec was +there, and when he was not she grew timid; although whole days would +sometimes pass without either speaking to the other. But before the +morning was over she learned the reason of his absence. + +For about noon, when all was tolerably harmonious in the school, the +door opened, and the face of Robert Bruce appeared, with gleaming eyes +of wrath. + +"Guid preserve's!" said Scrumpie to his next neighbour. "Sic a hidin' +as we s' a' get! Here's Rob Bruce! Wha's gane and tell't him?" + +But some of the gang of conspirators, standing in a class near the +door, stared in horror. Amongst them was Curly. His companions declared +afterwards that had it not been for the strength of the curl, his hair +would have stood upright. For, following Bruce, led in fact by a +string, came an awful apparition--Juno herself, a pitiable mass of +caninity--looking like the resuscitated corpse of a dog that had been +nine days buried, crowded with lumps, and speckled with cuts, going on +three legs, and having her head and throat swollen to a size past +recognition. + +"She's no deid efter a'! Deil tak' her! for he's in her," said Doddles. + +"We haena killed her eneuch," said Curly. + +"I tell't ye, Curly! Ye had little ado to lowse the tow. She wad ha' +been as deid afore the mornin' as Lucky Gordon's cat that ye cuttit the +heid aff o'," said Linkum. + +"Eh! but she luiks bonnie!" said Curly, trying to shake off his dismay. +"Man, we'll hae't a' to do ower again. Sic fun!" + +But he could not help looking a little rueful when Linkum expressed a +wish that they were themselves well through with their share of the +killing. + +And now the storm began to break. The master had gone to the door and +shaken hands with his visitor, glancing a puzzled interrogation at the +miserable animal in the string, which had just shape enough left to +show that it was a dog. + +"I'm verra sorry, Maister Malison, to come to you wi' my complaints," +said Bruce; "but jist luik at the puir dumb animal! She cudna come +hersel', an' sae I bude to bring her. Stan' still, ye brute!" + +For Juno having caught sight of some boy-legs, through a corner of one +eye not quite _bunged up_, began to tug at the string with feeble +earnestness-�no longer, however, regarding the said legs as made for +dogs to bite, but as fearful instruments of vengeance, in league with +stones and cords. So the straining and pulling was all homewards. But +her master had brought her as chief witness against the boys, and she +must remain where she was. + +"Eh, lass!" he said, hauling her back by the string; "gin ye had but +the tongue o' the prophet's ass, ye wad sune pint out the rascals that +misguided and misgrugled ye that gait. But here's the just judge +that'll gie ye yer richts, and that wi'oot fee or reward.--Mr Malison, +she was ane o' the bonniest bicks ye cud set yer ee upo'--" + +A smothered laugh gurgled through the room. + +-�"till some o' your loons--nae offence, sir--I ken weel eneuch they're +no yours, nor a bit like ye--some o' your peowpils, sir, hae jist ca'd +(driven) the sowl oot o' her wi' stanes." + +"Whaur does the sowl o' a bitch bide?" asked Goat, in a whisper, of his +neighbour. + +"De'il kens," answered Gapey; "gin it binna i' the boddom o' Rob +Bruce's wame." + +The master's wrath, ready enough to rise against boys and all their +works, now showed itself in the growing redness of his face. This was +not one of his worst passions--in them, he grew white--for the injury +had not been done to himself. + +"Can you tell me which of them did it?" + +"No, sir. There maun hae been mair nor twa or three at it, or she wad +hae worried them. The best-natered beast i' the toon!" + +"William Macwha," cried Malison. + +"Here, sir." + +"Come up." + +Willie ascended to the august presence. He had made up his mind that, +seeing so many had known all about it, and some of them had turned +cowards, it would be of no service to deny the deed. + +"Do you know anything about this cruelty to the poor dog, William?" +said the master. + +Willie gave a Scotchman's answer, which, while evasive, was yet answer +and more. + +"She bet me, sir." + +"When? While you were stoning her?" + +"No, sir. A month ago." + +"Ye're a leein' vratch, Willie Macwha, as ye weel ken i' yer ain +conscience!" cried Bruce. "She's the quaietest, kin'list beast 'at ever +was wholpit. See, sir; jist luik ye here. She'll lat me pit my han' in +her mou', an' tak' no more notice nor gin it was her ain tongue." + +Now whether it was that the said tongue was still swollen and painful, +or that Juno, conscious of her own ill deserts, disapproved of the +whole proceeding, I cannot tell; but the result of this proof of her +temper was that she made her teeth meet through Bruce's hand. + +"Damn the bitch!" he roared, snatching it away with the blood beginning +to flow. + +A laugh, not smothered this time, billowed and broke through the whole +school; for the fact that Bruce should be caught swearing, added to the +yet more delightful fact that Juno had bitten her master, was +altogether too much. + +"Eh! isna't weel we didna kill her efter a'?" said Curly. + +"Guid doggie!" said another, patting his own knee, as if to entice her +to come and be caressed. + +"At him again, Juno!" said a third. + +"I'll gie her a piece the neist time I see her," said Curly. + +Bruce, writhing with pain, and mortified at the result of his ocular +proof of Juno's incapability of biting, still more mortified at having +so far forgotten himself as to utter an oath, and altogether +discomfited by the laughter, turned away in confusion. + +"It's a' their wyte, the baad boys! She never did the like afore. They +hae ruined her temper," he said, as he left the school, following Juno, +which was tugging away at the string as if she had been a blind man's +dog. + +"Well, what have you to say for yourself, William?" said Malison. + +"She began 't, sir." + +This best of excuses would not, however, satisfy the master. The +punishing mania had possibly taken fresh hold upon him. But he would +put more questions first. + +"Who besides you tortured the poor animal?" + +Curly was silent. He had neither a very high sense of honour, nor any +principles to come and go upon; but he had a considerable amount of +devotion to his party, which is the highest form of conscience to be +found in many. + +"Tell me their names, sir?" + +Curly was still silent. + +But a white-headed urchin, whom innumerable whippings, not bribes, had +corrupted, cried out in a wavering voice: + +"Sanny Forbes was ane o' them; an' he's no here, 'cause Juno worried +him." + +The poor creature gained little by his treachery; for the smallest of +the conspirators fell on him when school was over, and gave him a +thrashing, which he deserved more than ever one of Malison's. + +But the effect of Alec's name on the master was talismanic. He changed +his manner at once, sent Curly to his seat, and nothing more was heard +of Juno or her master. + +The opposite neighbours stared across, the next morning, in bewildered +astonishment, at the place where the shop of Robert Bruce had been wont +to invite the public to enter and buy. Had it been possible for an +avalanche to fall like a thunderbolt from the heavens, they would have +supposed that one had fallen in the night, and overwhelmed the house. +Door and windows were invisible, buried with the rude pavement in front +beneath a mass of snow. Spades and shovels in boys' hands had been busy +for hours during the night, throwing it up against the house, the door +having first been blocked up with a huge ball, which they had rolled in +silence the whole length of the long street. + +Bruce and his wife slept in a little room immediately behind the shop, +that they might watch over their treasures; and Bruce's first movement +in the morning was always into the shop to unbolt the door and take +down the shutters. His astonishment when he looked upon a blank wall of +snow may be imagined. He did not question that the whole town was +similarly overwhelmed. Such a snow-storm had never been heard of +before, and he thought with uneasy recollection of the oath he had +uttered in the school-room; imagining for a moment that the whole of +Glamerton lay overwhelmed by the divine wrath, because he had, under +the agony of a bite from his own dog, consigned her to a quarter where +dogs and children are not admitted. In his bewilderment, he called +aloud: + +"Nancy! Robbie! Johnnie! We're a' beeriet alive!" + +"Preserve's a', Robert! what's happent?" cried his wife, rushing from +the kitchen. + +"I'm no beeriet, that I ken o'," cried Robert the younger, entering +from the yard. + +His father rushed to the back-door, and, to his astonishment and +relief, saw the whole world about him. It was a private judgment, then, +upon him and his shop. And so it was--a very private judgment. Probably +it was the result of his meditations upon it, that he never after +carried complaints to Murdoch Malison. + +Alec Forbes had nothing to do with this revenge. But Bruce always +thought he was at the bottom of it, and hated him the more. He disliked +all _loons_ but his own; for was not the spirit of _loons_ the very +antipodes to that of money-making? But Alec Forbes he hated, for he was +the very antipode to Robert Bruce himself. Mrs Bruce always followed +her husband's lead, being capable only of two devotions--the one to her +husband and children, the other to the shop.--Of Annie they highly and +righteously disapproved, partly because they had to feed her, and +partly because she was friendly with Alec. This disapproval rose into +dislike after their sons had told them that it was because Juno had +bitten her that the boys of the school, with Alec for a leader, had +served her as they had. But it was productive of no disadvantage to +her; for it could not take any active form because of the money-bond +between them, while its negative operation gave rise chiefly to +neglect, and so left her more at liberty, to enjoy herself as she could +after her own fashion. + +For the rest of Juno's existence, the moment she caught sight of a boy +she fled as fast as her four bow-legs would carry her, not daring even +to let her tail stick out behind her, lest it should afford a handle +against her. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +When Annie heard that Alec had been bitten she was miserable. She knew +his bite must be worse than hers, or he would not be kept at home. +Might she not venture to go and see him again? The modesty of a +maidenly child made her fear to intrude; but she could not constrain +her feet from following the path to his house. And as it was very dusk, +what harm could there be in going just inside the gate, and on to the +green? Through the parlour windows she saw the fire burning bright, and +a shadow moving across the walls and the ceiling; but she could not +make up her mind to knock at the door, for she was afraid of Mrs +Forbes, notwithstanding her kindness. So she wandered on--for here +there was no dog--wondering what that curious long mound of snow, with +the round heap at the end, by the flag-staff, could be? What could Alec +have made it for? Examining it closely all along, she came to the end +of it next the house, and looking round, saw that it was hollow. +Without a moment's thought, for she had no fear of Alec, she entered. +The passage was dark, but she groped her way, on and on, till she came +to the cell at the end. Here a faint ghostly light glimmered; for Alec +had cleared a small funnel upwards through the roof, almost to the +outside, so that a thin light filtered through a film of snow. This +light being reflected from the white surface of the cave, showed it all +throbbing about her with a faint bluish white, ever and anon whelmed in +the darkness and again glimmering out through its folds. She seated +herself on a ledge of snow that ran all round the foundation. It was +not so cold here as in the outer air, where a light frosty wind was +blowing across the world of snow. And she had not sat long, before, +according to her custom when left to herself, she fell fast asleep. + +Meantime Alec, his mother having gone to the town, was sitting alone, +finishing, by the light of the fire, the last of a story. At length the +dreariness of an ended tale was about him, and he felt the inactivity +to which he had been compelled all day no longer tolerable. He would go +and see how his snow-chamber looked by candlelight. His mother had told +him not to go out; but that, he reasoned, could hardly be called going +out, when there was not more than a yard of open air to cross. So he +got a candle, was out of the window in a moment, notwithstanding his +lameness, and crept through the long vault of snow towards the inmost +recess. As he approached the end he started. Could he believe his eyes? +A figure was there--motionless--dead perhaps. He went on--he went +in--and there he saw Annie, leaning against the white wall, with her +white face turned up to the frozen ceiling. She might have been the +frost-queen, the spirit that made the snow, and built the hut, and +dwelt in it; for all the powers that vivify nature must be children. +The popular imagination seems to have caught this truth, for all the +fairies and gnomes and goblins, yes, the great giants too, are only +different sizes, shapes, and characters of children. But I have +wandered from Alec's thoughts into my own. He knew it was Annie, and no +strange creature of the elements. And if he had not come, she might +have slept on till her sleep was too deep for any voice of the world to +rouse her. + +It was, even then, with difficulty that he woke her. He took hold of +her hands, but she did not move. He sat down, took her in his arms, +spoke to her--got frightened and shook her, but she would not open her +eyes. Her long dark eyelashes sloped still upon her white cheek, like +the low branches of a cedar upon the lawn at its foot. But he knew she +was not dead yet, for he could feel her heart beating. At length she +lifted her eyelids, looked up in his face, gave a low happy laugh, like +the laugh of a dreaming child, and was fast asleep again in a moment. + +Alec hesitated no longer. He rose with her in his arms, carried her +into the parlour, and laid her down on the rug before the fire, with a +sofa-pillow under her head. There she might have her sleep out. When +Mrs Forbes came home she found Alec reading, and Annie sleeping by the +fireside. Before his mother had recovered from her surprise, and while +she was yet staring at the lovely little apparition, Alec had the first +word. + +"Mamma!" he said, "I found her sleeping in my snow hut there; and if I +had not brought her in, she would have been dead by this time." + +"Poor little darling!" thought Mrs Forbes; but she was Scotch, and +therefore she did not say it. But she stooped, and drew the child back +from the fire, lest she should have her face scorched, and after making +the tea, proceeded to put off her bonnet and shawl. By the time she had +got rid of them, Annie was beginning to move, and Alec rose to go to +her. + +"Let her alone," said his mother. "Let her come to herself by degrees. +Come to the table." + +Alec obeyed. They could see that Annie had opened her eyes, and lay +staring at the fire. What was she thinking about? She had fallen asleep +in the snow-hut, and here she was by a bright fire! + +"Annie, dear, come to your tea," were the first words she heard. She +rose and went, and sat down at the table with a smile, taking it all as +the gift of God, or a good dream, and never asking how she had come to +be so happy. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +The spirit of mischief had never been so thoroughly aroused in the +youth of Glamerton as it was this winter. The snow lay very deep, while +almost every day a fresh fall added to its depth, and this rendered +some of their winter-amusements impossible; while not many of them had +the imagination of Alec Forbes to suggest new ones. At the same time +the cold increased, and strengthened their impulses to muscular +exertion. + +"Thae loons are jist growin' perfect deevils," said Charlie Chapman, +the wool-carder, as he bolted into his own shop, with the remains of a +snowball melting down the back of his neck. "We maun hae anither +constable to haud them in order." + +The existing force was composed of one long-legged, short-bodied, +middle-aged man, who was so slow in his motions, apparently from the +weight of his feet, which were always dragging behind him, that the +boys called him Stumpin' Steenie (dim. for "Stephen"), and stood in no +more awe of him than they did of his old cow--which, her owner being a +widower, they called _Mrs Stephen_--when she went up the street, hardly +able to waddle along for the weight of her udder. So there was some +little ground for the wool-carder's remark. How much a second constable +would have availed, however, is doubtful. + +"I never saw sic widdiefows!" (gallows-birds), chimed in a farmer's +wife who was standing in the shop. "They had a tow across the Wast Wynd +i' the snaw, an' doon I cam o' my niz, as sure's your name's Charles +Chapman--and mair o' my legs oot o' my coats, I doobt, than was +a'thegither to my credit." + +"I'm sure ye can hae no rizzon to tak' shame o' your legs, gude wife," +was the gallant rejoinder; to which their owner replied, with a laugh: + +"They warna made for public inspection, ony gait." + +"Hoot! hoot! Naebody saw them. I s' warran' ye didna lie lang! But thae +loons--they're jist past a'! Heard ye hoo they saired Rob Bruce?" + +"Fegs! they tell me they a' but buried him alive." + +"Ow! ay. But it's a later story, the last." + +"It's a pity there's no a dizzen or twa o' them in Awbrahawm's +boasom.--What did they till him neist?" + +Here Andrew Constable dropped in, and Chapman turned towards him with +the question: + +"Did _ye_ hear, Mr Constable, what the loons did to Robert Bruce the +nicht afore last?" + +"No. What was that? They hae a spite at puir Rob, I believe." + +"Weel, it didna look a'thegither like respeck, I maun alloo.--I was +stannin' at the coonter o' his shop waitin' for an unce o' sneeshin'; +and Robert he was servin' a bit bairnie ower the coouter wi' a +pennyworth o' triacle, when, in a jiffey, there cam' sic a blast, an' a +reek fit to smore ye, oot o' the bit fire, an' the shop was fu' o' +reek, afore ye could hae pitten the pint o' ae thoom upo' the pint o' +the ither. 'Preserve's a'!' cried Rob; but or he could say anither +word, butt the house, scushlin in her bauchles, comes Nancy, rinnin', +an' opens the door wi' a scraich: 'Preserve's a'!' quo' she, 'Robert, +the lum's in a low!' An' fegs! atween the twa reeks, to sunder them, +there was nothing but Nancy hersel. The hoose was as fu' as it cud +haud, frae cellar to garret, o' the blackest reek 'at ever crap oot o' +coal. Oot we ran, an' it was a sicht to see the crater wi' his lang +neck luikin' up at the chimleys. But deil a spark cam' oot o' them--or +reek either, for that maitter. It was easy to see what was amiss. The +loons had been o' the riggin, and flung a han'fu' o' blastin' powther +down ilka smokin' chimley, and syne clappit a divot or a truf upo' the +mou' o' 't. Deil ane o' them was in sicht, but I doobt gin ony o' them +was far awa'. There was naething for't but get a ladder, and jist gang +up an' tak aff the pot-lids. But eh! puir Robert was jist rampin' wi' +rage! No 'at he said muckle, for he daur hardly open his mou' for +sweerin'; and Robert wadna sweer, ye ken; but he was neither to haud +nor bin'." + +"What laddies war they, Charles, do ye ken?" asked Andrew. + +"There's a heap o' them up to tricks. Gin I haena the rheumateese +screwin' awa' atween my shoothers the nicht it wonna be their fau'ts; +for as I cam' ower frae the ironmonger's there, I jist got a ba' i' the +how o' my neck, 'at amaist sent me howkin' wi' my snoot i' the snaw. +And there it stack, and at this preceese moment it's rinnin' doon the +sma' o' my back as gin 't war a burnie doon a hillside. We maun hae +mair constables!" + +"Hoot! toot! Charles. Ye dinna want a constable to dry yer back. Gang +to the gudewife wi' 't," said Andrew, "she'll gie ye a dry sark. Na, +na. Lat the laddies work it aff. As lang's they haud their han's frae +what doesna belang to them, I dinna min' a bit ploy noo and than. +They'll noo turn oot the waur men for a pliskie or twa." + +The fact was, none of the boys would have dreamed of interfering with +Andrew Constable. Everybody respected him; not because he was an elder +of the kirk, but because he was a good-tempered, kindly, honest man; or +to sum up all in one word--_a douce chield_--by which word _douce_ is +indicated every sort of propriety of behaviour--a virtue greatly +esteemed by the Scotch. This adjective was universally applied to +Andrew. + +While Alec was confined to the house, he had been busy inventing all +kinds of employments for the period of the snow. His lessons never +occupied much of his thoughts, and no pains having yet been taken to +discover in what direction his tastes inclined him, he had of course to +cater for himself. The first day of his return, when school was over, +he set off rejoicing in his freedom, for a ramble through the snow, +still revolving what he was to do next; for he wanted some steady +employment with an end in view. In the course of his solitary walk, he +came to the Wan Water, the other river that flowed through the wide +valley--and wan enough it was now with its snow-sheet over it! As he +stood looking at its still, dead face, and lamenting that the snow lay +too deep over the ice to admit of skating, by a sudden reaction, a +summer-vision of the live water arose before him; and he thought how +delightful it would be to go sailing down the sparkling ripples, with +the green fields all about him, and the hot afternoon sun over his +head. That would be better even than scudding along it on his skates. +His next thought was at once an idea and a resolve. Why should he not +build a boat? He _would_ build a boat. He would set about it +directly.--Here was work for the rest of the winter! + +His first step must be to go home and have his dinner; his next--to +consult George Macwha, who had been a ship-carpenter in his youth. He +would run over in the evening before George should have dropped work, +and commit the plan to his judgment. + +In the evening, then, Alec reached the town, on his way to George +Macwha. It was a still lovely night, clear and frosty, with--yes, there +were--millions of stars overhead. Away in the north, the streamers were +shooting hither and thither, with marvellous evanescence and +re-generation. No dance of goblins could be more lawless in its +grotesqueness than this dance of the northern lights in their ethereal +beauty, shining, with a wild ghostly changefulness and feebleness, all +colours at once; now here, now there, like a row of slender +organ-pipes, rolling out and in and along the sky. Or they might have +been the chords of some gigantic stringed instrument, which chords +became visible only when mighty hands of music struck their keys and +set them vibrating; so that, as the hands swept up and down the Titanic +key-board, the chords themselves seemed to roll along the heavens, +though in truth some vanished here and others appeared yonder. Up and +down they darted, and away and back--and always in the direction he did +not expect them to take. He thought he heard them crackle, and he stood +still to listen; but he could not be sure that it was not the snow +sinking and _crisping_ beneath his feet. All around him was still as a +world too long frozen: in the heavens alone was there motion. There +this entrancing dance of colour and shape went on, wide beneath, and +tapering up to the zenith! Truly there was revelry in heaven! One might +have thought that a prodigal son had just got home, and that the music +and the dancing had begun, of which only the far-off rhythmic shine +could reach the human sense; for a dance in heaven might well show +itself in colour to the eyes of men.--Alec went on till the lights from +the windows of the town began to throw shadows across the snow. The +street was empty. From end to end nothing moved but an occasional +shadow. As he came near to Macwha's shop, he had to pass a row of +cottages which stood with their backs to a steep slope. Here too all +was silent as a frozen city. But when he was about opposite the middle +of the row, he heard a stifled laugh, and then a kind of muffled sound +as of hurrying steps, and, in a moment after, every door in the row was +torn open, and out bolted the inhabitants--here an old woman, halting +on a stick as she came, there a shoemaker, with last and awl in his +hands, here a tailor with his shears, and there a whole family of +several trades and ages. Every one rushed into the middle of the road, +turned right round and looked up. Then arose such a clamour of tongues, +that it broke on the still air like a storm. + +"What's ado, Betty?" asked Alec of a decrepit old creature, bent almost +double with rheumatism, who was trying hard to see something or other +in the air or on the roof of her cottage. + +But before she could speak, the answer came in another form, addressing +itself to his nose instead of his ears. For out of the cottages floated +clouds of smoke, pervading the air with a variety of scents--of burning +oak-bark, of burning leather-cuttings, of damp fire-wood and peat, of +the cooking of red herrings, of the boiling of porridge, of the baking +of oat-cake, &c., &c. Happily for all the inhabitants, "thae deevils o' +loons" had used no powder here. + +But the old woman, looking round when Alec spoke, and seeing that he +was one of the obnoxious school-boys, broke out thus: + +"Gang an' tak the divot (turf) aff o' my lum, Alec, there's a good +laad! Ye sudna play sic tricks on puir auld bodies like me, near +brackin' in twa wi' the rheumateeze. I'm jist greetin' wi' the reek i' +my auld een." + +And as she spoke she wiped her eyes with her apron. + +Alec did not wait to clear himself of an accusation so gently put, but +was on the roof of Luckie Lapp's cottage before she had finished her +appeal to his generosity. He took the "divot aff o' her lum" and +pitched it half way down the brae, at the back of the cottage. Then he +scrambled from one chimney to the other, and went on pitching the sods +down the hill. At length two of the inhabitants, who had climbed up at +the other end of the row, met him, and taking him for a repentant +sinner at best, made him prisoner, much to his amusement, and brought +him down, protesting that it was too bad of gentle-folk's sons to +persecute the poor in that way. + +"I didn't do it," said Alec. + +"Dinna lee," was the curt rejoinder. + +"I'm no leein'." + +"Wha did it, than?" + +"I can guiss; an' it shanna happen again, gin I can help it." + +"Tell's wha did it, than." + +"I wonno say names." + +"He's ane o' them." + +"The foul thief tak him! I s' gie him a hidin'," said a burly sutor +(shoemaker) coming up. "Thae loons are no to be borne wi' ony langer." + +And he caught Alec by the arm. + +"I didn't do it," persisted Alec. + +"Wha killed Rob Bruce's dog?" asked the sutor, squeezing Alec's arm to +point the question. + +"I did," answered Alec; "and I will do yours the same guid turn, gin he +worries bairns." + +"And quite richt, too!" said the sutor's wife. "Lat him gang, Donal. +I'll be boun' he's no ane o' them." + +"Tell's a' aboot it, than. Hoo cam ye up there?" + +"I gaed up to tak the divot aff o' Lucky Lapp's lum. Spier at her. Ance +up I thocht I micht gie the lave o' ye a gude turn, and this is a' I +get for't." + +"Weel, weel! Come in and warm ye, than," said the shoemaker, convinced +at last. + +So Alec went in and had a chat with them, and then went on to George +Macwha's. + +The carpenter took to his scheme at once. Alec was a fair hand at all +sorts of tool-work; and being on the friendliest terms with Macwha, it +was soon arranged that the keel should be laid in the end of the +workshop, and that, under George's directions, and what help Willie +chose to render, Alec should build his boat himself. Just as they +concluded these preliminaries, in came Willie, wiping some traces of +blood from his nose. He made a pantomimic gesture of vengeance at Alec. + +"What hae ye been efter noo, laddie?" asked his father. + +"Alec's jist gien me a bluidy nose," said Willie. + +"Hoo cam' that aboot? Ye weel deserved it, I hae nae doobt. Jist gie +him anither whan he wants it, Alec." + +"What do ye mean, Curly?" asked Alec in amazement. + +"Yon divot 'at ye flang aff o' Luckie Lapp's riggin'," said Curly, +"cam' richt o' the back o' my heid, as I lay o' the brae, and dang the +blude oot at my niz. That's a'.--Ye'll preten' ye didna see me, nae +doobt." + +"I say, Curly," said Alec, putting his arm round his shoulders, and +leading him aside, "we maun hae nae mair o' this kin' o' wark. It's a +dam't shame! Do ye see nae differ atween chokin' an ill-faured tyke an' +chokin' a puir widow's lum?" + +"'Twas only for fun." + +"It's ill fun that baith sides canna lauch at, Curly." + +"Rob Bruce wasna lauchin' whan he brocht the bick to the schuil, nor +yet whan he gaed hame again." + +"That was nae fun, Curly. That was doonricht earnest." + +"Weel, weel, Alec; say nae mair aboot it." + +"No more I will. But gin I was you, Curly, I wad tak Lucky a seck o' +spales the morn." + +"I'll tak them the nicht, Alec.--Father, hae ye an auld seck ony gait?" + +"There's ane up i' the laft. What want ye wi' a seck?" + +But Curly was in the loft almost before the question had left his +father's lips. He was down again in a moment, and on his knees filling +the sack with shavings and all the chips he could find. + +"Gie's a han' up wi't, Alec," he said. + +And in a moment more Curly was off to Widow Lapp with his bag of +firing. + +"He's a fine chield that Willie o' yours, George," said Alec to the +father. "He only wants to hae a thing weel pitten afore him, an' he +jist acts upo' 't direckly. + +"It's weel he maks a cronie o' you, Alec. There's a heap o' mischeef in +him. Whaur's he aff wi thae spells?" + +Alec told the story, much to the satisfaction of George, who could +appreciate the repentance of his son; although he was "nane o' the unco +guid" himself. From that day he thought more of his son, and of Alec as +well. + +"Noo, Curly," said Alec, as soon as he re-appeared with the empty sack, +"yer father's gaein to lat me big a boat, an' ye maun help me." + +"What's the use o' a boat i' this weather?" said Curly. + +"Ye gomeril!" returned his father; ye never luik an inch afore the pint +o' yer ain neb. Ye wadna think o' a boat afore the spring; an' haith! +the summer wad be ower, an' the water frozen again, afore ye had it +biggit. Luik at Alec there. He's worth ten o' you. + +"I ken that ilka bit as weel's ye do, father. Jist set's aff wi' 't, +father." + +"I canna attend till't jist i' the noo; but I s' set ye aff wi' 't the +morn's nicht." + +So here was an end to the troubles of the townsfolks from the _loons_, +and without any increase of the constabulary force; for Curly being +withdrawn, there was no one else of sufficiently inventive energy to +take the lead, and the loons ceased to be dangerous to the peace of the +community. Curly soon had both his head and his hands quite occupied +with boat-building. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +Every afternoon, now, the moment dinner was over, Alec set off for the +workshop, and did not return till eight o'clock, or sometimes later. +Mrs Forbes did not at all relish this change in his habits; but she had +the good sense not to interfere. + +One day he persuaded her to go with him, and see how the boat was +getting on. This enticed her into some sympathy with his new pursuit. +For there was the boat--a skeleton it is true, and not nearly ready yet +for the clothing of its planks, or its final skin of paint--yet an +undeniable boat to the motherly eye of hope. And there were Alec and +Willie working away before her eyes, doing their best to fulfil the +promise of its looks. A little quiet chat she had with George Macwha, +in which he poured forth the praises of her boy, did not a little, as +well, to reconcile her to his desertion of her. + +"Deed, mem," said George, whose acquaintance with Scripture was neither +extensive nor precise, "to my mind he's jist a fulfilment o' the +prophecee, 'An auld heid upo' young shouthers;' though I canna richtly +min' whilk o' the lesser prophets it is that conteens 't." + +But Mrs Forbes never saw a little figure, lying in a corner, +half-buried in wood-shavings, and utterly unconscious of her presence, +being fast asleep. + +This was, of course, Annie Anderson, who having heard of the new +occupation of her hero, had, one afternoon, three weeks before Mrs +Forbes's visit, found herself at George's shop door, she hardly knew +how. It seemed to her that she had followed her feet, and they had +taken her there before she knew where they were going. Peeping in, she +watched Alec and Willie for some time at their work, without venturing +to show herself. But George, who came up behind her as she stood, and +perceived her interest in the operations of the boys, took her by the +hand, and led her in, saying kindly: + +"Here's a new apprentice, Alec. She wants to learn boat-biggin." + +"Ou! Annie, is that you, lassie? Come awa'," said Alec. "There's a fine +heap o' spales ye can sit upo', and see what we're aboot." + +And so saying he seated her on the shavings, and half-buried her with +an armful more to keep her warm. + +"Put to the door, Willie," he added. "She'll be cauld. She's no +workin', ye see." + +Whereupon Willie shut the door, and Annie found herself very +comfortable indeed. There she sat, in perfect contentment, watching the +progress of the boat--a progress not very perceptible to her +inexperienced eyes, for the building of a boat is like the building of +a city or the making of a book: it turns out a boat at last. But after +she had sat for a good while in silence, she looked up at Alec, and +said: + +"Is there naething I can do to help ye, Alec?" + +"Naething, Annie. Lassies canna saw or plane, ye ken. Ye wad tak' aff +yer ain lugs in a jiffey." + +Again she was silent for a long time; and then, with a sigh, she looked +up and said: + +"Alec, I'm so cauld!" + +"I'll bring my plaid to row ye in the morn's nicht." + +Annie's heart bounded for joy; for here was what amounted to an express +invitation for to-morrow. + +"But," Alec went on, "come wi' me, and we'll sune get ye warm again. +Gie's yer han'." + +Annie gave Alec her hand; and he lifted her out of her heap of spales, +and led her away. She never thought of asking where he was leading her. +They had not gone far down the _close_, when a roaring sound fell upon +her ear, growing louder and louder as they went on; till, turning a +sharp corner, there they saw the smithy fire. The door of the smithy +was open, and they could see the smith at work some distance off. The +fire glowed with gathered rage at the impudence of the bellows blowing +in its face. The huge smith, with one arm flung affectionately over the +shoulder of the insulting party, urged it to the contest; while he +stirred up the other to increased ferocity, by poking a piece of iron +into the very middle of it. How the angry glare started out of it and +stared all the murky _smiddy_ in the face, showing such gloomy holes +and corners in it, and such a lot of horse-shoes hung up close to the +roof, ready to be fitted for unbelievable horse-wear; and making the +smith's face and bare arms glow with a dusky red, like hot metal, as if +he were the gnome-king of molten iron. Then he stooped, and took up +some coal dust in a little shovel, and patted it down over the fire, +and blew stronger than ever, and the sparks flew out with the rage of +the fire. Annie was delighted to look at it; but there was a certain +fierceness about the whole affair that made her shrink from going +nearer; and she could not help feeling a little afraid of the giant +smith in particular, with his brawny arms that twisted and tortured +iron bars all day long,--and his black angry-looking face, that seemed +for ever fighting with fire and stiff-necked metal His very look into +the forge-fire ought to have been enough to put it out of countenance. +Perhaps that was why it was so necessary to keep blowing and poking at +it. Again he stooped, caught up a great iron spoon, dipped it into a +tub of water, and poured the spoonful on the fire--a fresh insult, at +which it hissed and sputtered, like one of the fiery flying serpents of +which she had read in her Bible--gigantic, dragon-like creatures to her +imagination--in a perfect insanity of fury. But not the slightest +motion of her hand lying in Alec's, indicated reluctance, as he led her +into the shop, and right up to the wrathful man, saying: + +"Peter Whaup, here's a lassie 'at's 'maist frozen to deid wi' cauld. +Will ye tak' her in and lat her stan' by your ingle-neuk, and warm +hersel'?" + +"I'll do that, Alec. Come in by, my bairn. What ca' they ye?" + +"Annie Anderson." + +"Ow, ay! I ken a' aboot ye weel eneuch. Ye can lea' her wi' me, Alec; +I'll luik efter her." + +"I maun gang back to my boat, Annie," said Alec, then, apologetically, +"but I'll come in for ye again." + +So Annie was left with the smith, of whom she was not the least afraid, +now that she had heard him speak. With his leathern apron, caught up in +both hands, he swept a space on the front of the elevated hearth of the +forge, clear of cinders and dust, and then, having wiped his hands on +the same apron, lifted the girl as tenderly as if she had been a baby, +and set her down on this spot, about a yard from the fire, on a level +with it; and there she sat, in front of the smith, looking at the fire +and the smith and the work he was about, in turns. He asked her a great +many questions about herself and the Bruces, and her former life at +home; and every question he asked he put in a yet kindlier voice. +Sometimes he would stop in the middle of blowing, and lean forward with +his arm on the handle of the bellows, and look full in the child's face +till she had done answering him, with eyes that shone in the firelight +as if the tears would have gathered, but could not for the heat. + +"Ay! ay!" he would say, when she had answered him, and resume his +blowing, slowly and dreamily. For this terrible smith's heart was just +like his fire. He was a dreadful fellow for fighting and quarrelling +when he got a drop too much, which was rather too often, if the truth +must be told; but to this little woman-child his ways were as soft and +tender as a woman's: he could burn or warm. + +"An' sae ye likit bein' at the ferm best?" he said. + +"Ay. But ye see my father deid--" + +"I ken that, my bairn. The Lord haud a grip o' ye!" + +It was not often that Peter Whaup indulged in a pious ejaculation. But +this was a genuine one, and may be worth recording for the sake of +Annie's answer: + +"I'm thinkin' he hauds a grip o' us a', Mr Whaup." + +And then she told him the story about the rats and the cat; for hardly +a day passed just at this time without her not merely recalling it, but +reflecting upon it. And the smith drew the back of his hand across both +his eyes when she had done, and then pressed them both hard with the +thumb and forefinger of his right hand, as if they ached, while his +other arm went blowing away as if nothing was the matter but plenty of +wind for the forge-fire. Then he pulled out the red-hot _gad_, or iron +bar, which he seemed to have forgotten ever since Annie came in, and, +standing with his back to her to protect her from the sparks, put it on +his anvil, and began to lay on it, as if in a fury; while the sparks +flew from his blows as if in mortal terror of the angry man that was +pelting at the luminous glory laid thus submissive before him. In fact, +Peter was attempting to hammer out more things than one, upon that +_study_ of his; for in Scotland they call a smith's anvil a study, so +that he ranks with other artists in that respect. Then, as if anxious +to hear the child speak yet again, he said, putting the iron once more +in the fire, and proceeding to rouse the wrath of the coals: + +"Ye kent Jeames Dow, than?" + +"Ay; weel that. I kent Dooie as weel as Broonie." + +"Wha was Broonie?" + +"Ow! naebody but my ain coo." + +"An' Jeames was kin' to ye?" + +To this question no reply followed; but Peter, who stood looking at +her, saw her lips and the muscles of her face quivering an answer, +which if uttered at all, could come only in sobs and tears. + +But the sound of approaching steps and voices restored her equanimity, +and a listening look gradually displaced the emotion on her +countenance. Over the half-door of the shop appeared two men, each +bearing on his shoulder the socks (shares) of two ploughs, to be +sharpened, or set. The instant she saw them she tumbled off her perch, +and before they had got the door opened was half way to it, crying, +"Dooie! Dooie!" Another instant and she was lifted high in Dowie's +arms. + +"My little mistress!" exclaimed he, kissing her. "Hoo cam ye here?" + +"I'm safe eneuch here, Dooie; dinna be fleyt. I'll tell ye a' aboot it. +Alec's in George Macwha's shop yonner." + +"And wha's Alec?" asked Dowie. + +Leaving them now to their private communications, I will relate, for +the sake of its result, what passed between James Dow's companion and +the smith. + +"The last time," said the youth, "that ye set my sock, Peter Whaup, ye +turned it oot jist as saft's potty, and it wore oot raither suner." + +"Hoot! man, ye mistak. It wasna the sock. It was the heid that cam' +ahin' 't, and kentna hoo to haud it aff o' the stanes." + +"Ha! ha! ha! My heid's nae sae saft's yer ain. It's no rosten a' day +like yours, till it's birstled (scorched) and sung (singed) like a +sheep's. Jist gie me a haud o' the taings, an' I s' set my sock to my +ain min'." + +Peter gave up the tongs at once, and the young fellow proceeded to put +the share in the fire, and to work the bellows. + +"Ye'll never mak ony thing o' 't that gait," said Peter, as he took the +tongs from his hand, and altered the position of the share for him. "Ye +wad hae 'it black upo' ae side and white upo' the ither. Noo ca (drive) +steady, an' dinna blaw the fire aff o' the forge." + +But when it came to the anvil part of the work, Peter found so many +faults with the handling and the execution generally, that at length +the lad threw down the tongs with a laugh and an oath intermingled, +saying: + +"Ye can mak' potty o' 't yersel, than, Peter.--Ye jist min' me o' the +Waesome Carl." + +"What's that o' 't, Rory, man?" + +"Ow! naething but a bit sang that I cam' upo' the ither day i' the neuk +o' an auld newspaper." + +"Lat's hear't," said Peter. "Sing't, Rory. Ye're better kent for a guid +sang than for settin' socks." + +"I canna sing 't, for I dinna ken the tune o' 't. I only got a glimp' +o' 't, as I tell ye, in an auld news." + +"Weel, say't, than. Ye're as weel kent for a guid memory, as a guid +sang." + +Without more preamble, Rory repeated, with appropriate gesture, + + THE WAESOME CARL. + + There cam a man to oor toon-en', + An' a waesome carl was he; + Wi' a snubbert nose, an' a crookit mou', + An' a cock in his left ee. + And muckle he spied, and muckle he spak'; + But the burden o' his sang + Was aye the same, and ower again: + There's nane o' ye a' but's wrang. + Ye're a' wrang, and a' wrang, + And a'thegither a' wrang; + There's no a man aboot the town, + But's a'thegither a' wrang. + + That's no the gait to bake the breid, + Nor yet to brew the yill; + That's no the gait to haud the pleuch, + Nor yet to ca the mill. + That's no the gait to milk the coo, + Nor yet to spean the calf; + Nor yet to fill the girnel-kist-- + Ye kenna yer wark by half. + Ye're a' wrang, &c. + + The minister was na fit to pray, + And lat alane to preach; + He nowther had the gift o' grace, + Nor yet the gift o' speech. + He mind 't him o' Balaam's ass, + Wi' a differ ye may ken: + The Lord he open'd the ass's mou' + The minister open'd 's ain. + He's a' wrang, &c. + + The puir precentor cudna sing, + He gruntit like a swine; + The verra elders cudna pass + The ladles till his min'. + And for the rulin' elder's grace, + It wasna worth a horn; + He didna half uncurse the meat, + Nor pray for mair the morn. + He's a' wrang, &c. + + And aye he gied his nose a thraw, + And aye he crookit his mou'; + And aye he cockit up his ee, + And said, "Tak' tent the noo." + We leuch ahint oor loof (palm), man, + And never said him nay: + And aye he spak'--jist lat him speik! + And aye he said his say: + Ye're a' wrang, &c. + + Quo' oor guidman: "The crater's daft; + But wow! he has the claik; + Lat's see gin he can turn a han' + Or only luik and craik. + It's true we maunna lippen till him-- + He's fairly crack wi' pride; + But he maun live, we canna kill him-- + Gin he can work, he s' bide." + He was a' wrang, &c. + + "It's true it's but a laddie's turn, + But we'll begin wi' a sma' thing; + There's a' thae weyds to gather an' burn-- + An' he's the man for a' thing." + We gaed oor wa's, and loot him be, + To do jist as he micht; + We think to hear nae mair o' him, + Till we come hame at nicht; + But we're a' wrang, &c. + + For, losh! or it was denner-time, + The lift (firmament) was in a low; + The reek rase up, as it had been + Frae Sodom-flames, I vow. + We ran like mad; but corn and byre + War blazin'--wae's the fell!�- + As gin the deil had broucht the fire, + To mak' anither hell. + 'Twas a' wrang, &c. + + And by the blaze the carl stud, + Wi's han's aneath his tails; + And aye he said--"I tauld ye sae, + An' ye're to blame yersels. + It's a' your wite (blame), for ye're a' wrang-- + Ye'll maybe own't at last: + What gart ye burn thae deevilich weyds, + Whan the win' blew frae the wast? + Ye're a' wrang, and a' wrang, + And a'thegither a' wrang; + There's no a man in a' the warl' + But's a'thegither a' wrang." + +Before the recitation was over, which was performed with considerable +spirit and truth, Annie and Dowie were listening attentively, along +with Alec, who had returned to take Annie back, and who now joined +loudly in the applause which followed the conclusion of the verses. + +"Faith, that was a chield to haud oot ower frae," said Alec to Rory. +"And ye said the sang weel. Ye sud learn to sing't though." + +"Maybe I may, some day; gin I cud only get a grainie saut to pit upo' +the tail o' the bird that kens the tune o' 't. What ca' they you, noo?" + +"Alec Forbes," answered the owner of the name. + +"Ay," interposed Annie, addressing herself to Dowie, who still held her +in his arms; "this is Alec, that I tell't ye aboot. He's richt guid to +me. Alec, here's Dooie, 'at I like better nor onybody i' the warl'." + +And she turned and kissed the bronzed face, which was a clean face, +notwithstanding the contrary appearance given to it by a beard of three +days' growth, which Annie's kiss was too full of love to mind. + +Annie would have been yet more ready to tell Dowie and Alec each who +the other was, had she not been occupied in her own mind with a +discovery she had made. For had not those verses given evident delight +to the company--Alec among the rest? Had he not applauded loudest of +all?--Was there not here something she could do, and so contribute to +the delight of the workmen, Alec and Willie, and thus have her part in +the boat growing beneath their hands? She would then be no longer a +tolerated beholder, indebted to their charity for permission to enjoy +their society, but a contributing member of the working community--if +not working herself, yet upholding those that wrought. The germ of all +this found itself in her mind that moment, and she resolved before next +night to be able to emulate Rory. + +Dowie carried her home in his arms, and on the way she told him all +about the kindness of Alec and his mother. He asked her many questions +about the Bruces; but her patient nature, and the instinctive feeling +that it would make Dowie unhappy, withheld her from representing the +discomforts of her position in strong colours. Dowie, however, had his +own thoughts on the matter. + +"Hoo are ye the nicht, Mr Dow?" said Robert, who treated him with oily +respect, because he was not only acquainted with all Annie's affairs, +but was a kind of natural, if not legal, guardian of her and her +property. "And whaur did ye fa' in wi' this stray lammie o' oors?" + +"She's been wi' me this lang time," answered Dow, declining, with +Scotch instinct, to give an answer, before he understood all the drift +of the question. A Scotchman would always like the last question first. + +"She's some ill for rinnin' oot," said Bruce, with soft words addressed +to Dow, and a cutting look flung at Annie, "withoot speirin' leave, and +we dinna ken whaur she gangs; and that's no richt for lass-bairns." + +"Never ye min' her, Mr Bruce," replied Dow. "I ken her better nor you, +no meanin' ony offence, seein' she was i' my airms afore she was a week +auld. Lat her gang whaur she likes, and gin she does what she sudna do, +I'll tak a' the wyte o' 't." + +Now there was no great anxiety about Annie's welfare in the mind of Mr +or Mrs Bruce. The shop and their own children, chiefly the former +occupied their thoughts, and the less trouble they had from the +presence of Annie, the better pleased they were--always provided they +could escape the censure of neglect. Hence it came that Annie's +absences were but little inquired into. All the attention they did show +her, seemed to them to be of free grace and to the credit of their +charity. + +But Bruce did not like the influence that James Dow had with her; and +before they retired for the night, he had another lecture ready for +Annie. + +"Annie," he said, "it's no becomin' for ane i' your station to be sae +familiar. Ye'll be a young leddy some day, and it's no richt to tak up +wi' servan's. There's Jeames Doo, jist a labourin' man, and aneath your +station a'thegether, and he taks ye up in's airms, as gin ye war a +bairn o' 's ain. It's no proaper." + +"I like Jamie Doo better nor onybody i' the haill warl," said Annie, +"excep'--" + +Here she stopped short. She would not expose her heart to the gaze of +that man. + +"Excep' wha?" urged Bruce. + +"I'm no gaein to say," returned Annie firmly. + +"Ye're a camstairie (perverse) lassie," said Bruce, pushing her away +with a forceful acidity in the combination of tone and push. + +She walked off to bed, caring nothing for his rebuke. For since Alec's +kindness had opened to her a well of the water of life, she had almost +ceased to suffer from the ungeniality of her guardians. She forgot them +as soon as she was out of their sight. And certainly they were nicer to +forget than to remember. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. [sic, should be XXII.] + + +As soon as she was alone in her room she drew from her pocket a parcel +containing something which Dowie had bought for her on their way home. +When undone it revealed two or three tallow candles, a precious present +in view of her hopes. But how should she get a light--for this was long +before lucifer matches had risen even upon the horizon of Glamerton? +There was but one way. + +She waited, sitting on the edge of her bed, in the cold and darkness, +until every sound in the house had ceased. Then she stepped cautiously +down the old stair, which would crack now and then, use what care and +gentleness she might. + +It was the custom in all the houses of Glamerton to _rest_ the fire; +that is, to keep it gently alive all night by the help of a _truff_, or +sod cut from the top of a peat-moss--a coarse peat in fact, more loose +and porous than the peat proper--which they laid close down upon the +fire, destroying almost all remaining draught by means of coal-dust. To +this sealed fountain of light the little maiden was creeping through +the dark house, with one of her _dips_ in her hand--the pitcher with +which she was about to draw from the fountain. + +And a pretty study she would have made for any child-loving artist, +when, with her face close to the grate, her mouth puckered up to do +duty as the nozzle of a pair of bellows, one hand holding a twisted +piece of paper between the bars, and the other buttressing the whole +position from the floor, she blew at the live but reluctant fire, a +glow spreading at each breath over her face, and then fading as the +breath ceased, till at last the paper caught, and lighting it up from +without with flame, and from within with the shine of success, made the +lovely child-countenance like the face of one that has found the truth +after the search of weary days. + +Thus she lighted her candle, and again with careful steps she made her +way to her own room. Setting the candle in a hole in the floor, left by +the departure of a resinous knot, she opened her box, in which lay the +few books her aunt had thrown into it when she left her old home. She +had not yet learned to care much about books; but one of these had now +become precious in her eyes, because she knew it contained poems that +her father had been fond of reading. She soon found it--a volume by +some Scotch poet of little fame, whose inward commotions had generated +their own alleviation in the harmonies of ordered words in which they +embodied themselves. In it Annie searched for something to learn before +the following night, and found a ballad the look of which she liked, +and which she very soon remembered as one she had heard her father +read. It was very cold work to learn it at midnight, in winter, and in +a garret too; but so intent was she, that before she went to bed, she +had learned four or five verses so thoroughly that she could repeat +them without thinking of what came next, and these she kept saying over +and over again even in her dreams. + +As soon as she woke in the dark morning she put her hand under her +pillow to feel the precious volume, which she hoped would be the bond +to bind her yet more closely to the boat and its builders. She took it +to school in her pocket, learning the whole way as she went, and taking +a roundabout road that her cousins might not interrupt her. She kept +repeating and peeping every possible moment during school hours, and +then all the way home again. So that by the time she had had her +dinner, and the gauzy twilight had thickened to the "blanket of the +dark," she felt quite ready to carry her offering of "the song that +lightens toil," to George Macwha's workshop. + +How clever they must be, she thought, as she went along, to make such a +beautiful thing as the boat was now growing to! And she felt in her +heart a kind of love for the look of living grace that the little craft +already wore. Indeed before it was finished she had learned to regard +it with a feeling of mingled awe, affection, and admiration, and the +little boat had made for itself a place in her brain. + +When she entered, she found the two boys already in busy talk; and +without interrupting them by a word, she took her place on the heap of +shavings which had remained undisturbed since last night. After the +immediate consultation was over, and the young carpenters had settled +to their work--not knowing what introduction to give to her offering, +she produced it without any at all. The boys did not know what to make +of it at first, hearing something come all at once from Annie's lips +which was neither question nor remark, and broke upon the silence like +an alien sound. But they said nothing--only gave a glance at each other +and at her, and settled down to listen and to work. Nor did they speak +one word until she had finished the ballad. + + "THE LAST WOOING," + +said Annie, all at once, and went on: + + "O lat me in, my bonny lass! + It's a lang road ower the hill; + And the flauchterin' snaw began to fa', + As I cam by the mill." + + "This is nae change-hoose, John Munro, + And ye needna come nae mair: + Ye crookit yer mou', and lichtlied me, + Last Wednesday, at the fair." + + "I lichtlied ye!" "Aboon the glass." + "Foul-fa' the ill-faured mouth + That made the leein' word to pass, + By rowin' 't (wrapping) in the truth. + + The fac' was this: I dochtna bide + To hear yer bonnie name, + Whaur muckle mous war opened wide + Wi' lawless mirth and shame. + + And a' I said was: 'Hoot! lat sit; + She's but a bairn, the lass.' + It turned the spait (flood) o' words a bit, + And loot yer fair name pass." + + "Thank ye for naething, John Munro! + My name can gang or bide; + It's no a sough o' drucken words + Wad turn my heid aside." + + "O Elsie, lassie o' my ain! + The drift is cauld and strang; + O tak me in ae hour, and syne + I'll gather me and gang." + + "Ye're guid at fleechin' (wheedling), Jock Munro. + For ye heedna fause and true: + Gang in to Katie at the Mill, + She lo'es sic like as you." + + He turned his fit; he spak nae mair. + The lift was like to fa'; + And Elsie's heart grew grit and sair (big and sore), + At sicht o' the drivin' snaw. + + She laid her doun, but no to sleep, + For her verra heart was cauld; + And the sheets war like a frozen heap + O' snaw aboot her faul'd. + + She rase fu' ear'. And a' theroot + Was ae braid windin' sheet; + At the door-sill, or winnock-lug (window-corner), + Was never a mark o' feet. + + She crap a' day aboot the hoose, + Slow-fittit and hert-sair, + Aye keekin' oot like a frichtit moose,-- + But Johnnie cam nae mair! + + When saft the thow begud to melt + Awa' the ghaistly snaw, + Her hert was safter nor the thow, + Her pride had ta'en a fa.' + + And she oot ower the hill wad gang, + Whaur the sun was blinkin' bonnie, + To see his auld minnie (mother) in her cot, + And speir aboot her Johnnie. + + But as alang the hill she gaed, + Through snaw und slush and weet, + She stoppit wi' a chokin' cry-- + 'Twas Johnnie at her feet. + + His heid was smoored aneath the snaw, + But his breist was maistly bare; + And 'twixt his breist and his richt han', + He claisp't a lock o' hair. + + 'Twas gowden hair: she kent it weel. + Alack, the sobs and sighs! + The warm win' blew, the laverock flew, + But Johnnie wadna rise. + + The spring cam ower the wastlin (westward) hill, + And the frost it fled awa'; + And the green grass luikit smilin' up, + Nane the waur for a' the snaw. + + And saft it grew on Johnnie's grave, + Whaur deep the sunshine lay; + But, lang or that, on Elsie's heid + The gowden hair was gray. + +George Macwha, who was at work in the other end of the shop when she +began, had drawn near, chisel in hand, and joined the listeners. + +"Weel dune, Annie!" exclaimed he, as soon as she had finished�-feeling +very shy and awkward, now that her experiment had been made. But she +had not long to wait for the result. + +"Say't ower again, Annie," said Alec, after a moment's pause. + +Could she have wished for more? + +She did say it over again. + +"Eh, Annie! that's rale bonnie. Whaur did ye get it?" he asked. + +"In an auld buikie o' my father's," answered she. + +"Is there ony mair in't like it?" + +"Ay, lots." + +"Jist learn anither, will ye, afore the morn's nicht?" + +"I'll do that, Alec." + +"Dinna ye like it, Curly?" asked Alec, for Curly had said nothing. + +"Ay, fegs! (faith)" was Curly's emphatic and uncritical reply. + +Annie therefore learned and repeated a few more, which, if not received +with equal satisfaction, yet gave sufficient pleasure to the listeners. +They often, however, returned to the first, demanding it over and over +again, till at length they knew it as well as she. + +Hut a check was given for a while to these forenight meetings. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + +A rapid thaw set in, and up through the vanishing whiteness dawned the +dark colours of the wintry landscape. For a day or two the soft wet +snow lay mixed with water over all the road. After that came mire and +dirt. But it was still so far off spring, that nobody cared to be +reminded of it yet. So when, after the snow had vanished, a hard black +frost set in, it was welcomed by the schoolboys at least, whatever the +old people and the poor people, and especially those who were both old +and poor, may have thought of the change. Under the binding power of +this frost, the surface of the slow-flowing Glamour and of the swifter +Wan-Water, were once more chilled and stiffened to ice, which every day +grew thicker and stronger. And now, there being no coverlet of snow +upon it, the boys came out in troops, in their iron-shod shoes and +their clumsy skates, to skim along those floors of delight that the +winter had laid for them. To the fishes the ice was a warm blanket cast +over them to keep them from the frost. But they must have been dismayed +at the dim rush of so many huge forms above them, as if another river +with other and awful fishes had buried theirs. Alec and Willie left +their boat--almost for a time forgot it--repaired their skates, joined +their school-fellows, and shot along the solid water with the banks +flying past them. It was strange to see the banks thus from the middle +surface of the water. All was strange about them; and the delight of +the strangeness increased the delight of the motion, and sent the blood +through their veins swift as their flight along the frozen rivers. + +For many afternoons and into the early nights, Alec and Curly held on +the joyful sport, and Annie was for the time left lonely. But she was +neither disconsolate nor idle. The boat was a sure pledge for them. To +the boat and her they must return. She went to the shop still, now and +then, to see George Macwha, who, of an age beyond the seduction of ice +and skates, kept on steadily at his work. To him she would repeat a +ballad or two, at his request, and then go home to increase her stock. +This was now a work of some difficulty, for her provision of candles +was exhausted, and she had no money with which to buy more. The last +candle had come to a tragical end. For, hearing steps approaching her +room one morning, before she had put it away in its usual safety in her +box, she hastily poked it into one of the holes in the floor and forgot +it. When she sought it at night, it was gone. Her first dread was that +she had been found out; but hearing nothing of it, she concluded at +last that her enemies the _rottans_ had carried it off and devoured it. + +"Deil choke them upo' the wick o' 't!" exclaimed Curly, when she told +him the next day, seeking a partner in her grief. + +But a greater difficulty had to be encountered. It was not long before +she had exhausted her book, from which she had chosen the right poems +by insight, wonderfully avoiding by instinct the unsuitable, without +knowing why, and repelled by the mere tone. + +She thought day and night where additional _pabulum_ might be procured, +and at last came to the resolution of applying to Mr Cowie the +clergyman. Without consulting any one, she knocked on an afternoon at +Mr Cowie's door. + +"Cud I see the minister?" she said to the maid. + +"I dinna ken. What do you want?" was the maid's reply. + +But Annie was Scotch too, and perhaps perceived that she would have but +a small chance of being admitted into the minister's presence if she +communicated the object of her request to the servant. So she only +replied, + +"I want to see himsel', gin ye please." + +"Weel, come in, and I'll tell him. What's yer name?" + +"Annie Anderson" + +"Whaur do ye bide?" + +"At Mr Bruce's, i' the Wast Wynd." + +The maid went, and presently returning with the message that she was to +"gang up the stair," conducted her to the study where the minister +sat--a room, to Annie's amazement, filled with books from the top to +the bottom of every wall. Mr Cowie held out his hand to her, and said, + +"Well, my little maiden, what do you want?" + +"Please, sir, wad ye len' me a sang-buik?" + +"A psalm-book?" said the minister, hesitatingly, supposing he had not +heard aright, and yet doubting if this could be the correction of his +auricular blunder. + +"Na, sir; I hae a psalm-buik at hame. It's a sang-buik that I want the +len' o'." + +Now the minister was one of an old school--a very worthy kind-hearted +man, with nothing of what has been called _religious experience_. But +he knew what some of his Lord's words meant, and amongst them certain +words about little children. He had a feeling likewise, of more +instinctive origin, that to be kind to little children was an important +branch of his office. So he drew Annie close to him, as he sat in his +easy-chair, laid his plump cheek against her thin white one, and said +in the gentlest way: + +"And what do you want a song-book for, dawtie?" + +"To learn bonnie sangs oot o', sir. Dinna ye think they're the bonniest +things in a' the warl',--sangs, sir?" + +For Annie had by this time learned to love ballad-verse above +everything but Alec and Dowie. + +"And what kind o' sangs do ye like?" the clergyman asked, instead of +replying. + +"I like them best that gar ye greit, sir." + +At every answer, she looked up in his face with her open clear blue +eyes. And the minister began to love her not merely because she was a +child, but because she was this child. + +"Do ye sing them?" he asked, after a little pause of pleased gazing +into the face of the child. + +"Na, na; I only say them. I dinna ken the tunes o' them." + +"And do you say them to Mr Bruce?" + +"Mr Bruce, sir! Mr Bruce wad say I was daft. I wadna say a sang to him, +sir, for--for--for a' the sweeties i' the shop." + +"Well, who do you say them to?" + +"To Alec Forbes and Willie Macwha. They're biggin a boat, sir; and they +like to hae me by them, as they big, to say sangs to them. And I like +it richt weel." + +"It'll be a lucky boat, surely," said the minister, "to rise to the +sound of rhyme, like some old Norse war-ship." + +"I dinna ken, sir," said Annie, who certainly did not know what he +meant. + +Now the minister's acquaintance with any but the classic poets was very +small indeed; so that, when he got up and stood before his +book-shelves, with the design of trying what he could do for her, he +could think of nobody but Milton. + +So he brought the _Paradise Lost_ from its place, where it had not been +disturbed for years, and placing it before her on the table, for it was +a quarto copy, asked her if that would do. She opened it slowly and +gently, with a reverential circumspection, and for the space of about +five minutes, remained silent over it, turning leaves, and tasting, and +turning, and tasting again. At length, with one hand resting on the +book, she turned to Mr Cowie, who was watching with much interest and a +little anxiety the result of the experiment, and said gently and +sorrowfully: + +"I dinna think this is the richt buik for me, sir. There's nae sang +in't that I can fin' out. It gangs a' straucht on, and never turns or +halts a bit. Noo ye see, sir, a sang aye turns roun', and begins again, +and afore lang it comes fairly to an en', jist like a day, sir, whan we +gang to oor beds an' fa' asleep. But this hauds on and on, and there's +no end till't ava (at all). It's jist like the sun that 'never tires +nor stops to rest.'" + +"'But round the world he shines,'" said the clergyman, completing the +quotation, right good-humouredly, though he was somewhat bewildered; +for he had begun to fall a-marvelling at the little dingy maiden, with +the untidy hair and dirty frock, who had thoughts of her own, and would +not concede the faculty of song to the greatest of epic poets. + +Doubtless if he had tried her with some of the short poems at the end +of the _Paradise Regained_, which I doubt if he had ever even read, she +would at least have allowed that they were not devoid of song. But it +was better perhaps that she should be left free to follow her own +instincts. The true teacher is the one who is able to guide those +instincts, strengthen them with authority, and illuminate them with +revelation of their own fundamental truth. The best this good minister +could do was not to interfere with them. He was so anxious to help her, +however, that, partly to gain some minutes for reflection, partly to +get the assistance of his daughters, he took her by the hand, and led +her to the dining-room, where tea was laid for himself and his two +grown-up girls. She went without a thought of question or a feeling of +doubt; for however capable she was of ordering her own way, nothing +delighted her more than blind submission, wherever she felt justified +in yielding it. It was a profound pleasure to her not to know what was +coming next, provided some one whom she loved did. So she sat down to +tea with the perfect composure of submission to a superior will. It +never occurred to her that she had no right to be there; for had not +the minister himself led her there? And his daughters were very kind +and friendly. In the course of the meal, Mr Cowie having told them the +difficulty he was in, they said that perhaps they might be able to find +what she wanted, or something that might take the place of it; and +after tea, one of them brought two volumes of ballads of all sorts, +some old, some new, some Scotch, some English, and put them into +Annie's hands, asking her if that book would do. The child eagerly +opened one of the volumes, and glanced at a page: It sparkled with the +right ore of ballad-words. The Red, the colour always of delight, grew +in her face. She closed the book as if she could not trust herself to +look at it while others were looking at her, and said with a sigh: + +"Eh, mem! Ye wonna lippen them _baith_ to me?" + +"Yes, I will," said Miss Cowie. "I am sure you will take care of them." + +"_That--I--will_," returned Annie, with an honesty and determination of +purpose that made a great impression upon Mr Cowie especially. And she +ran home with a feeling of richness of possession such as she had never +before experienced. + +Her first business was to scamper up to her room, and hide the precious +treasures in her _kist_, there to wait all night, like the buried dead, +for the coming morning. + +When she confessed to Mr Bruce that she had had tea with the minister, +he held up his hands in the manner which commonly expresses amazement; +but what the peculiar character or ground of the amazement might be +remained entirely unrevealed, for he said not a word to elucidate the +gesture. + +The next time Annie went to see the minister it was on a very different +quest from the loan of a song-book. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + +One afternoon, as Alec went home to dinner, he was considerably +surprised to find Mr Malison leaning on one of the rails of the +foot-bridge over the Glamour, looking down upon its frozen surface. +There was nothing supernatural or alarming in this, seeing that, after +school was over, Alec had run up the town to the saddler's, to get a +new strap for one of his skates. What made the fact surprising was, +that the scholars so seldom encountered the master anywhere except in +school. Alec thought to pass, but the moment his foot was on the bridge +the master lifted himself up, and faced round. + +"Well, Alec," he said, "where have _you_ been?" + +"To get a new strap for my skatcher," answered Alec. + +"You're fond of skating--are you, Alec?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"I used to be when I was a boy. Have you had your dinner?" + +"No, sir." + +"Then I suppose your mother has not dined, either?" + +"She never does till I go home, sir." + +"Then I won't intrude upon her. I did mean to call this afternoon." + +"She will be very glad to see you, sir. Come and take a share of what +there is." + +"I think I had better not, Alec." + +"Do, sir. I am sure she will make you welcome." + +Mr Malison hesitated. Alec pressed him. He yielded; and they went along +the road together. + +I shall not have to show much more than half of Mr Malison's life--the +school half, which, both inwardly and outwardly, was very different +from the other. The moment he was out of the school, the moment, that +is, that he ceased for the day to be responsible for the moral and +intellectual condition of his turbulent subjects, the whole +character--certainly the whole deportment--of the man changed. He was +now as meek and gentle in speech and behaviour as any mother could have +desired. + +Nor was the change a hypocritical one. The master never interfered, or +only upon the rarest occasions when pressure from without was brought +to bear upon him, as in the case of Juno, with what the boys did out of +school. He was glad enough to accept utter irresponsibility for that +portion of his time; so that between the two parts of the day, as they +passed through the life of the master, there was almost as little +connection as between the waking and sleeping hours of a somnambulist. + +But, as he leaned over the rail of the bridge, whither a rare impulse +to movement had driven him, his thoughts had turned upon Alec Forbes +and his antagonism. Out of school, he could not help feeling that the +boy had not been very far wrong, however subversive of authority his +behaviour had been; but it was not therefore the less mortifying to +think how signally he had been discomfited by him. And he was compelled +moreover to acknowledge to himself that it was a mercy that Alec was +not the boy to follow up his advantage by heading--not a party against +the master, but the whole school, which would have been ready enough to +follow such a victorious leader. So there was but one way of setting +matters right, as Mr Malison had generosity enough left in him to +perceive; and that was, to make a friend of his adversary. Indeed there +is that in the depths of every human breast which makes a +reconciliation the only victory that can give true satisfaction. Nor +was the master the only gainer by the resolve which thus arose in his +mind the very moment before he felt Alec's tread upon the bridge. + +They walked together to Howglen, talking kindly the whole way; to which +talk, and most likely to which kindness between them, a little incident +had contributed as well. Alec had that day rendered a passage of Virgil +with a remarkable accuracy, greatly pleasing to the master, who, +however, had no idea to what this isolated success was attributable. I +forget the passage; but it had reference to the setting of sails, and +Alec could not rest till he had satisfied himself about its meaning; +for when we are once interested in anything, we want to see it nearer +as often as it looms in sight. So he had with some difficulty cleared +away the mists that clung about the words, till at length he beheld and +understood the fact embodied in them. + +Alec had never had praise from Mr Malison before--at least none that +had made any impression on him--and he found it very sweet. And through +the pleasure dawned the notion that perhaps he might be a scholar after +all if he gave his mind to it. In this he was so far right: a fair +scholar he might be, though a learned man he never could be, without +developing an amount of will, and effecting a degree of self-conquest, +sufficient for a Jesuit,--losing at the same time not only what he was +especially made for knowing, but, in a great measure, what he was +especially made for being. Few, however, are in danger of going so +grievously against the intellectual impulses of their nature: far more +are in danger of following them without earnestness, or if earnestly, +then with the absorption of an eagerness only worldly. + +Mrs Forbes, seeing the pleasure expressed on Alec's countenance, +received Mr Malison with more than the usual cordiality, forgetting +when he was present before her eyes what she had never failed to think +of with bitterness when he was only present to her mind. + +As soon as dinner was over Alec rushed off to the river, leaving his +mother and the master together. Mrs Forbes brought out the +whisky-bottle, and Mr Malison, mixing a tumbler of toddy, filled a +wine-glass for his hostess. + +"We'll make a man of Alec some day yet," said he, giving an +ill-considered form to his thoughts. + +"'Deed!" returned Mrs Forbes, irritated at the suggestion of any +difficulty in the way of Alec's ultimate manhood, and perhaps glad of +the opportunity of speaking her mind--"'Deed! Mr Malison, ye made a +bonnie munsie (monsieur) o' him a month ago. It wad set ye weel to try +yer hand at makin' a man o' him noo." + +Had Alec been within hearing, he would never have let his mother forget +this speech. For had not she, the immaculate, the reprover, fallen +herself into the slough of the vernacular? The fact is, it is easier to +speak the truth in a _patois_, for it lies nearer to the simple +realities than a more conventional speech. + +I do not however allow that the Scotch is a _patois_ in the ordinary +sense of the word. For had not Scotland a living literature, and that a +high one, when England could produce none, or next to none--I mean in +the fifteenth century? But old age, and the introduction of a more +polished form of utterance, have given to the Scotch all the other +advantages of a _patois_, in addition to its own directness and +simplicity. + +For a moment the dominie was taken aback, and sat reddening over his +toddy, which, not daring even to taste it, he went on stirring with his +toddy-ladle. For one of the disadvantages of a broken life is, that +what a person may do with a kind of conscience in the one part, he +feels compelled to blush for in the other. The despotism exercised in +the school, even though exercised with a certain sense of justice and +right, made the autocrat, out of school, cower before the parents of +his helpless subjects. And this quailing of heart arose not merely from +the operation of selfish feelings, but from a deliquium that fell upon +his principles, in consequence of their sudden exposure to a more open +atmosphere. But with a sudden perception that his only chance was to +throw himself on the generosity of a woman, he said: + +"Well, ma'am, if you had to keep seventy boys and girls quiet, and hear +them their lessons at the same time, perhaps you would find yourself in +danger of doing in haste what you might repent at leisure." + +"Weel, weel, Mr Malison, we'll say nae mair aboot it. My laddie's nane +the waur for't noo; and I hope ye will mak a man o' him some day, as ye +say." + +"He translated a passage of Virgil to-day in a manner that surprised +me." + +"Did he though? He's not a dunce, I know; and if it weren't for that +stupid boat he and William Macwha are building, he might be made a +scholar of, I shouldn't wonder. George should have more sense than +encourage such a waste of time and money. He's always wanting something +or other for the boat, and I confess I can't find in my heart to refuse +him, for, whatever he may be at school, he's a good boy at home, Mr +Malison." + +But the schoolmaster did not reply at once, for a light had dawned upon +him: this then was the secret of Alec's translation--a secret in good +sooth worth his finding out. One can hardly believe that it should have +been to the schoolmaster the first revelation of the fact that a +practical interest is the strongest incitement to a theoretical +acquaintance. But such was the case. He answered after a moment's +pause-- + +"I suspect, ma'am, on the contrary, that the boat, of which I had heard +nothing till now, was Alec's private tutor in the passage of Virgil to +which I have referred." + +"I don't understand you, Mr Malison." + +"I mean, ma'am, that his interest in his boat made him take an interest +in those lines about ships and their rigging. So the boat taught him to +translate them." + +"I see, I see." + +"And that makes me doubt, ma'am, whether we shall be able to make him +learn anything to good purpose that he does not take an interest in." + +"Well, what _do_ you think he is fit for, Mr Malison? I should like him +to be able to be something else than a farmer, whatever he may settle +down to at last." + +Mrs Forbes thought, whether wisely or not, that as long as she was able +to manage the farm, Alec might as well be otherwise employed. And she +had ambition for her son as well. But the master was able to make no +definite suggestion. Alec seemed to have no special qualification for +any profession; for the mechanical and constructive faculties had alone +reached a notable development in him as yet. So after a long talk, his +mother and the schoolmaster had come no nearer than before to a +determination of what he was fit for. The interview, however, restored +a good understanding between them. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + +It was upon a Friday night that the frost finally broke up. A day of +wintry rain followed, dreary and depressing. But the two boys, Alec +Forbes and Willie Macwha, had a refuge from the _ennui_ commonly +attendant on such weather, in the prosecution of their boat-building. +Hence it came to pass that in the early evening of the following +Saturday, they found themselves in close consultation in George +Macwha's shop, upon a doubtful point involved in the resumption of +their labour. But they could not settle the matter without reference to +the master of the mystery, George himself, and were, in the mean time, +busy getting their tools in order--when he entered, in conversation +with Thomas Crann the mason, who, his bodily labours being quite +interrupted by the rain, had the more leisure apparently to bring his +mental powers to bear upon the condition of his neighbours. + +"It's a sod pity, George," he was saying as he entered, "that a man +like you wadna, ance for a', tak thoucht a bit, and consider the en' o' +a' thing that the sun shines upo'." + +"Hoo do ye ken, Thamas, that I dinna tak thoucht?" + +"Will ye say 'at ye _div_ tak thoucht, George?" + +"I'm a bit o' a Protestant, though I'm nae missionar; an' I'm no +inclined to confess, Thamas--meanin' no ill-will to _you_ for a' that, +ye ken," added George, in a conciliatory tone. + +"Weel, weel. I can only say that I hae seen no signs o' a savin' +seriousness aboot ye, George. Ye're sair ta'en up wi' the warl'." + +"Hoo mak' ye that oot? Ye big hooses, an' I mak' doors to them. And +they'll baith stan' efter you an' me's laid i' the mouls.--It's weel +kent forbye that ye hae a bit siller i' the bank, and I hae none." + +"Not a bawbee hae I, George. I can pray for my daily breid wi' an +honest hert; for gin the Lord dinna sen' 't, I hae nae bank to fa' back +upo'." + +"I'm sorry to hear 't, Thamas," said George.--"But Guid guide 's!" he +exclaimed, "there's the twa laddies, hearkenin' to ilka word 'at we +say!" + +He hoped thus, but hoped in vain, to turn the current of the +conversation. + +"A' the better for that!" persisted Thomas. "They need to be remin't as +well as you and me, that the fashion o' this warld passeth away. Alec, +man, Willie, my lad, can ye big a boat to tak' ye ower the river o' +Deith?--Na, ye'll no can do that. Ye maun gae through that watshod, I +doobt! But there's an ark o' the Covenant that'll carry ye safe ower +that and a waur flood to boot--and that's the flood o' God's wrath +against evil-doers.--'Upon the wicked he shall rain fire and +brimstone--a furious tempest.'--We had a gran' sermon upo' the ark o' +the Covenant frae young Mr Mirky last Sabbath nicht. What for will na +ye come and hear the Gospel for ance and awa' at least, George Macwha? +Ye can sit i' my seat." + +"I'm obleeged to ye," answered George; "but the muckle kirk does weel +eneuch for me. And ye ken I'm precentor, noo, forbye." + +"The muckle kirk!" repeated Thomas, in a tone of contempt. "What get ye +there but the dry banes o' morality, upo' which the win' o' the word +has never blawn to pit life into the puir disjaskit skeleton. Come ye +to oor kirk, an' ye'll get a rousin', I can tell ye, man. Eh! man, gin +ye war ance convertit, ye wad ken hoo to sing. It's no great singin' +'at _ye_ guide." + +Before the conversation had reached this point another listener had +arrived: the blue eyes of Annie Anderson were fixed upon the speaker +from over the half-door of the workshop. The drip from the thatch-eaves +was dropping upon her shabby little shawl as she stood, but she was +utterly heedless of it in the absorption of hearkening to Thomas Crann, +who talked with authority, and a kind of hard eloquence of persuasion. + +I ought to explain here that the _muckle kirk_ meant the parish church; +and that the religious community to which Thomas Crann belonged was one +of the first results of the propagation of English Independency in +Scotland. These Independents went commonly by the name of _Missionars_ +in all that district; a name arising apparently from the fact that they +were the first in the neighbourhood to advocate the sending of +missionaries to the heathen. The epithet was, however, always used with +a considerable admixture of contempt. + +"Are ye no gaein to get a minister o' yer ain, Thamas?" resumed George, +after a pause, still wishing to turn the cart-wheels of the +conversation out of the deep ruts in which the stiff-necked Thomas +seemed determined to keep them moving. + +"Na; we'll bide a bit, and try the speerits. We're no like you--forced +to lat ower (swallow) ony jabble o' lukewarm water that's been stan'in' +i' the sun frae year's en' to year's en', jist because the p�tron +pleases to stick a pump intil 't an' ca' 't a well o' salvation. We'll +ken whaur the water comes frae. We'll taste them a', and cheese +accordin'." + +"Weel, I wadna like the trouble nor yet the responsibility." + +"I daursay not." + +"Na. Nor yet the shame o' pretennin' to jeedge my betters," added +George, now a little nettled, as was generally the result at last of +Thomas's sarcastic tone. + +"George," said Thomas solemnly, "nane but them that has the speerit can +ken the speerit." + +With these words, he turned and strode slowly and gloomily out of the +shop--no doubt from dissatisfaction with the result of his attempt. + +Who does not see that Thomas had a hold of something to which George +was altogether a stranger? Surely it is something more to stand with +Moses upon Mount Sinai, and see the back of God through ever so many +folds of cloudy darkness, than be sitting down to eat and drink, or +rising up to play about the golden calf, at the foot of the mountain. +And that Thomas was possessed of some divine secret, the heart of child +Annie was perfectly convinced; the tone of his utterance having a +greater share in producing this conviction than anything he had said. +As he passed out, she looked up reverently at him, as one to whom deep +things lay open, Thomas had a kind of gruff gentleness towards children +which they found very attractive; and this meek maiden he could not +threaten with the vials of wrath. He laid his hard heavy hand kindly on +her head, saying: + +"Ye'll be ane o' the Lord's lambs, will ye no? Ye'll gang into the fold +efter him, will ye no?" + +"Ay will I," answered Annie, "gin He'll lat in Alec and Curly too." + +"Ye maun mak nae bargains wi' him; but gin they'll gang in, he'll no +haud them oot." + +And away, somewhat comforted, the honest stonemason strode, through the +darkness and the rain, to his own rather cheerless home, where he had +neither wife nor child to welcome him. An elderly woman took care of +his house, whose habitual attitude towards him was one half of awe and +half of resistance. The moment he entered, she left the room where she +had been sitting, without a word of welcome, and betook herself to the +kitchen, where she prepared his plate of porridge or bowl of brose. +With this in one hand, and a jug of milk in the other, she soon +returned, placing them like a peace-offering on the table before him. +Having completed the arrangement by the addition of a horn spoon from a +cupboard in the wall, she again retired in silence. The moment she +vanished Thomas's blue bonnet was thrown into a corner, and with folded +hands and bent head he prayed a silent prayer over his homely meal. + +By this time Alec and Curly, having received sufficient instruction +from George Macwha, were in full swing with their boat-building. But +the moment Thomas went, Alec, had taken Annie to the forge to get her +well-dried, before he would allow her to occupy her old place in the +heap of spales. + +"Wha's preachin' at the missionar-kirk the morn, Willie?" asked the +boy's father, For Willie knew everything that took place in Glamerton. + +"Mr Broon," answered Curly. + +"He's a guid man that, ony gait," returned his father. "There's nae +mony like him. I think I'll turn missionar mysel', for ance and awa', +and gang and hear him the morn's nicht." + +At the same instant Annie entered the shop, her face glowing with the +heat of the forge and the pleasure of rejoining her friends. Her +appearance turned the current, and no more was said about the +missionar-kirk.--Many minutes did not pass before she had begun to +repeat to the eager listeners one of the two new poems which she had +got ready for them from the book Miss Cowie had lent her. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + +Whatever effect the remonstrances of Thomas might or might not have +upon the rest, Annie had heard enough to make her want to go to the +missionar-kirk. For was it not plain that Thomas Crann knew something +that she did not know? and where could he have learned it but at the +said kirk? There must be something going on there worth looking into. +Perhaps there she might learn just what she needed to know; for, happy +as she was, she would have been much happier had it not been for a +something--she could neither describe nor understand it--which always +rose between her and the happiness. She did not lay the blame on +circumstances, though they might well, in her case, have borne a part +of it. Whatever was, to her was right; and she never dreamed of +rebelling against her position. For she was one of those simple +creatures who perceive at once that if they are to set anything right +for themselves or other people, they must begin with their own selves, +their inward being and life. So without knowing that George Macwha +intended to be there, with no expectation of seeing Alec or Curly, and +without having consulted any of the Bruce family, she found herself, a +few minutes after the service had commenced, timidly peering through +the inner door of the chapel, and starting back, with mingled shyness +and awe, from the wide solemnity of the place. Every eye seemed to have +darted upon her the moment she made a chink of light between the door +and its post. How spiritually does every child-nature feel the +solemnity of the place where people, of whatever belief or whatever +intellectual rank, meet to worship God! The air of the temple belongs +to the poorest meeting-room as much as to the grandest cathedral. And +what added to the effect on Annie was, that the reputation of Mr Brown +having drawn a great congregation to hear him preach that evening, she, +peeping through the door, saw nothing but live faces; whereas Mr +Cowie's church, to which she was in the habit of going, though much +larger, was only so much the more empty. She withdrew in dismay to go +up into the gallery, where, entering from behind, she would see fewer +faces, and might creep unperceived into the shelter of a pew; for she +felt "little better than one of the wicked" in having arrived late. So +she stole up the awful stair and into the wide gallery, as a chidden +dog might steal across the room to creep under the master's table. Not +daring to look up, she went with noiseless difficulty down a steep step +or two, and perched herself timidly on the edge of a seat, beside an +old lady, who had kindly made room for her. When she ventured to lift +her eyes, she found herself in the middle of a sea of heads. But she +saw in the same glance that no one was taking any notice of her, which +discovery acted wonderfully as a restorative. The minister was reading, +in a solemn voice, a terrible chapter of denunciation out of the +prophet Isaiah, and Annie was soon seized with a deep listening awe. +The severity of the chapter was, however, considerably mollified by the +gentleness of the old lady, who put into her hand a Bible, smelling +sweetly of dried starry leaves and southernwood, in which Annie +followed the reading word for word, feeling sadly condemned if she +happened to allow her eyes to wander for a single moment from the book. +After the long prayer, during which they all stood--a posture certainly +more reverential than the sitting which so commonly passes for +kneeling--and the long psalm, during which they all sat, the sermon +began; and again for a moment Annie ventured to look up, feeling +protected from behind by the back of the pew, which reached high above +her head. Before her she saw no face but that of the minister, between +which and her, beyond the front of the gallery, lay a gulfy space, +where, down in the bottom, sat other listening souls, with upturned +faces and eyes, unseen of Annie, all their regards converging upon the +countenance of the minister. He was a thin-faced cadaverous man, with a +self-severe saintly look, one to whom religion was clearly a reality, +though not so clearly a gladness, one whose opinions�vague +half-monstrous embodiments of truth--helped to give him a consciousness +of the life which sprung from a source far deeper than his +consciousness could reach. I wonder if one will ever be able to +understand the worship of his childhood--that revering upward look +which must have been founded on a reality, however much after +experience may have shown the supposed grounds of reverence to be +untenable. The moment Annie looked in the face of Mr Brown, she +submitted absolutely; she enshrined him and worshipped him with an +awful reverence. Nor to the end of her days did she lose this feeling +towards him. True, she came to see that he was a man of ordinary +stature, and that some of the religious views which he held in common +with his brethren were dishonouring of God, and therefore could not be +elevating to the creature. But when she saw these and other like facts, +they gave her no shock--they left the reflex of the man in her mind +still unspotted, unimpaired. How could this be? Simply because they +left unaltered the conviction that this man believed in God, and that +the desire of his own heart brought him into some real, however +undefinable, relation to him who was yet nearer to him than that desire +itself, and whose presence had caused its birth. + +He chose for his text these words of the Psalmist: "The wicked shall be +turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." His sermon was +less ponderous in construction and multitudinous in division than +usual; for it consisted simply of answers to the two questions: "Who +are the wicked?" and "What is their fate?" The answer to the former +question was, "The wicked are those that forget God;" the answer to the +latter, "The torments of everlasting fire." Upon Annie the sermon +produced the immediate conviction that she was one of the wicked, and +that she was in danger of hell-fire. The distress generated by the +earlier part of the sermon, however, like that occasioned by the +chapter of prophecy, was considerably mitigated by the kindness of an +unknown hand, which, appearing occasionally over her shoulder from +behind, kept up a counteractive ministration of peppermint lozenges. +But the representations grew so much in horror as the sermon approached +its end, that, when at last it was over, and Annie drew one long breath +of exhaustion, hardly of relief, she became aware that the peppermint +lozenge which had been given her a quarter of an hour before, was lying +still undissolved in her mouth. + +What had added considerably to the effect of the preacher's words, was +that, in the middle of the sermon, she had, all at once, caught sight +of the face of George Macwha diagonally opposite to her, his eyes +looking like ears with the intensity of his listening. Nor did the +rather comical episode of the snuffing of the candles in the least +interfere with the solemnity of the tragic whole. The gallery was +lighted by three _coron�_ of tallow candles, which, persisting in +growing long-nosed and dim-sighted, had, at varying periods, according +as the necessity revealed itself to a certain half-witted individual of +the congregation, to be _snodded_ laboriously. Without losing a word +that the preacher uttered, Annie watched the process intently. What +made it ludicrous was, that the man, having taken up his weapon with +the air of a pious executioner, and having tipped the chandelier +towards him, began, from the operation of some occult sympathy, to open +the snuffers and his own mouth simultaneously; and by the time the +black devouring jaws of the snuffers had reached their full stretch, +his own jaws had become something dragonlike and hideous to +behold--when both shut with a convulsive snap. Add to this that he was +long-sighted and often missed a candle several times before he +succeeded in snuffing it, whereupon the whole of the opening and +shutting process had to be repeated, sometimes with no other result +than that of snuffing the candle out, which had then to be pulled from +its socket and applied to the next for re-illumination. But nothing +could be farther from Annie's mood than a laugh or even a smile, though +she gazed as if she were fascinated by the snuffers, which were +dreadfully like one of the demons in a wood-cut of the Valley of the +Shadow of Death in the _Pilgrim's Progress_ without boards, which had +belonged to her father. + +When all had ceased--when the prayer, the singing, and the final +benediction were over, Annie crept out into the dark street as if into +the Outer Darkness. She felt the rain falling upon something hot, but +she hardly knew that it was her own cheeks that were being wetted by +the heavy drops. Her first impulse was to run to Alec and Curly, put +her arms about their necks, and entreat them to flee from the wrath to +come. But she could not find them to-night. She must go home. For +herself she was not much afraid; for there was a place where prayer was +heard as certainly as at the mercy-seat of old--a little garret room +namely, with holes in the floor, out of which came rats; but with a +door as well, in at which came the prayed-for cat. + +But alas for poor Annie and her chapel-going! As she was creeping +slowly up from step to step in the dark, the feeling came over her that +it was no longer against rats, nor yet against evil things dwelling in +the holes and corners of a neglected human world, that she had to pray. +A spiritual terror was seated on the throne of the universe, and was +called God--and to whom should she pray against it? Amidst the +darkness, a deeper darkness fell. + +She knelt by her bedside, but she could not lift up her heart; for was +she not one of them that forget God? and was she not therefore wicked? +and was not God angry with her every day? Was not the fact that she +could not pray a certain proof that she was out of God's favour, and +counted unworthy of his notice? + +But there was Jesus Christ: she would cry to him. But did she believe +in him? She tried hard to convince herself that she did; but at last +she laid her weary head on the bed, and groaned in her young despair. +At the moment a rustling in the darkness broke the sad silence with a +throb of terror. She started to her feet. She was exposed to all the +rats in the universe now, for God was angry with her, and she could not +pray. With a stifled scream she darted to the door, and half tumbled +down the stair in an agony of fear. + +"What gars ye mak sic a din i' the hoose o' the Sawbath nicht?" +screamed Mrs Bruce. + +But little did Annie feel the reproof. And as little did she know that +the dreaded rats had this time been the messengers of God to drive her +from a path in which lies madness. + +She was forced at length to go to bed, where God made her sleep and +forget him, and the rats did not come near her again that night. + +Curly and Alec had been in the chapel too, but they were not of a +temperament to be disturbed by Mr Brown's discourse. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + +Little as Murdoch Malison knew of the worlds of thought and +feeling--Annie's among the rest--which lay within those young faces and +forms assembled the next day as usual, he knew almost as little of the +mysteries that lay within himself. + +Annie was haunted all day with the thought of the wrath of God. When +she forgot it for a moment, it would return again with a sting of +actual physical pain, which seemed to pierce her heart. Before school +was over she had made up her mind what to do. + +And before school was over Malison's own deed had opened his own eyes, +had broken through the crust that lay between him and the vision of his +own character. + +There is not to be found a more thorough impersonation of his own +theology than a Scotch schoolmaster of the rough old-fashioned type. +His pleasure was law, irrespective of right or wrong, and the reward of +submission to law was immunity from punishment. He had his favourites +in various degrees, whom he chose according to inexplicable directions +of feeling ratified by "the freedom of his own will." These found it +easy to please him, while those with whom he was not primarily pleased, +found it impossible to please him. + +Now there had come to the school, about a fortnight before, two +unhappy-looking little twin orphans, with white thin faces, and bones +in their clothes instead of legs and arms, committed to the mercies of +Mr Malison by their grandfather. Bent into all the angles of a +grasshopper, and lean with ancient poverty, the old man tottered away +with his stick in one hand, stretched far out to support his stooping +frame, and carried in the other the caps of the two forsaken urchins, +saying, as he went, in a quavering, croaking voice, + +"I'll jist tak them wi' me, or they'll no be fit for the Sawbath aboon +a fortnicht. They're terrible laddies to blaud (spoil) their claes!" + +Turning with difficulty when he had reached the door, he added: + +"Noo ye jist gie them their whups weel, Master Mailison, for ye ken +that he that spareth the rod blaudeth the bairn." + +Thus authorized, Malison certainly did "gie them their whups weel." +Before the day was over they had both lain shrieking on the floor under +the torture of the lash. And such poor half-clothed, half-fed creatures +they were, and looked so pitiful and cowed, that one cannot help +thinking it must have been for his own glory rather than their good +that he treated them thus. + +But, in justice to Malison, another fact must be mentioned, which, +although inconsistent with the one just recorded, was in perfect +consistency with the theological subsoil whence both sprang. After +about a week, during which they had been whipt almost every day, the +orphans came to school with a cold and a terrible cough. Then his +observant pupils saw the man who was both cruel judge and cruel +executioner, feeding his victims with liquorice till their faces were +stained with its exuberance. + +The old habits of severity, which had been in some measure intermitted, +had returned upon him with gathered strength, and this day Anne was to +be one of the victims. For although he would not dare to whip her, he +was about to incur the shame of making this day, pervaded as it was, +through all its spaces of time and light, with the fumes of the sermon +she had heard the night before, the most wretched day that Anne's sad +life had yet seen. Indeed, although she afterwards passed many more +sorrowful days, she never had to pass one so utterly miserable. The +spirits of the pit seemed to have broken loose and filled Murdoch +Malison's school-room with the stench of their fire and brimstone. + +As she sat longing for school to be over, that she might follow a plan +which had a glimmer of hope in it, stupified with her labouring +thoughts, and overcome with wretchedness, she fell fast asleep. She was +roused by a smart blow from the taws, flung with unerring aim at the +back of her bare bended neck. She sprang up with a cry, and, tottering +between sleep and terror, proceeded at once to take the leather snake +back to the master. But she would have fallen in getting over the form +had not Alec caught her in his arms. He re-seated her, and taking the +taws from her trembling hand, carried it himself to the tyrant. Upon +him Malison's fury, breaking loose, expended itself in a dozen blows on +the right hand, which Alec held up without flinching. As he walked to +his seat, burning with pain, the voice of the master sounded behind +him; but with the decree it uttered, Alec did not feel himself at +liberty to interfere. + +"Ann Anderson," he bawled, "stand up on the seat." + +With trembling limbs, Annie obeyed. She could scarcely stand at first, +and the form shook beneath her. For some time her colour kept +alternating between crimson and white, but at last settled into a +deadly pallor. Indeed, it was to her a terrible punishment to be +exposed to the looks of all the boys and girls in the school. The elder +Bruce tried hard to make her see one of his vile grimaces, but, feeling +as if every nerve in her body were being stung with eyes, she never +dared to look away from the book which she held upside down before her +own sightless eyes.--This pillory was the punishment due to falling +asleep, as hell was the punishment for forgetting God; and there she +had to stand for a whole hour. + +"_What a shame! Damn that Malison!_" and various other subdued +exclamations were murmured about the room; for Annie was a favourite +with most of the boys, and yet more because she was the General's +sweetheart, as they said; but these ebullitions of popular feeling were +too faint to reach her ears and comfort her isolation and exposure. +Worst of all, she had soon to behold, with every advantage of position, +an outbreak of the master's temper, far more painful than she had yet +seen, both from its cruelty and its consequences. + +A small class of mere children, amongst whom were the orphan Truffeys, +had been committed to the care of one of the bigger boys, while the +master was engaged with another class. Every boy in the latter had +already had his share of _pandies_, when a noise in the children's +class attracting the master's attention, he saw one of the Truffeys hit +another boy in the face. He strode upon him at once, and putting no +question as to provocation, took him by the neck, fixed it between his +knees, and began to lash him with hissing blows. In his agony, the +little fellow contrived to twist his head about and get a mouthful of +the master's leg, inserting his teeth in a most canine and praiseworthy +manner. The master caught him up, and dashed him on the floor. There +the child lay motionless. Alarmed, and consequently cooled, Malison +proceeded to lift him. He was apparently lifeless; but he had only +fainted with pain. When he came to himself a little, it was found that +his leg was hurt. It appeared afterwards that the knee-cap was greatly +injured. Moaning with pain, he was sent home on the back of a big +parish scholar. + +At all this Anne stared from her pillory with horror. The feeling that +God was angry with her grew upon her; and Murdoch Malison became for a +time inseparably associated with her idea of God, frightfully +bewildering all her aspirations. + +The master still looked uneasy, threw the _tag_ into his desk, and beat +no one more that day. Indeed, only half an hour of school-time was +left. As soon as that was over, he set off at a swinging pace for the +old grandfather's cottage. + +What passed there was never known. The other Truffey came to school the +next day as usual, and told the boys that his brother was in bed. In +that bed he lay for many weeks, and many were the visits the master +paid him. This did much with the townsfolk to wipe away his reproach. +They spoke of the affair as an unfortunate accident, and pitied the +schoolmaster even more than the sufferer. + +When at length the poor boy was able to leave his bed, it became +apparent that, either through unskilful treatment, or as the +unavoidable result of the injury, he would be a cripple for life. + +The master's general behaviour was certainly modified by this +consequence of his fury; but it was some time before the full reaction +arrived. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + +When Annie descended from her hateful eminence, just before the final +prayer, it was with a deeper sense of degradation than any violence of +the tawse on her poor little hands could have produced. Nor could the +attentions of Alec, anxiously offered as soon as they were out of +school, reach half so far to console her as they might once have +reached; for such was her sense of condemnation, that she dared not +take pleasure in anything. Nothing else was worth minding till +something was done about that. The thought of having God against her +took the heart out of everything.--As soon as Alec left her, she walked +with hanging head, pale face, and mournful eyes, straight to Mr Cowie's +door. + +She was admitted at once, and shown into the library, where the +clergyman sat in the red dusky glow of the firelight, sipping a glass +of wine, and looking very much like an ox-animal chewing the cud; for +the meditation in which the good man indulged over his wine was seldom +worthy of being characterized otherwise than as mental rumination. + +"Well, Annie, my dear, come away," said he, "I am glad to see you. How +does the boat get on?" + +Deeply touched by a kindness which fell like dew upon the parching +misery of the day, Annie burst into tears. Mr Cowie was greatly +distressed. He drew her between his knees, laid his cheek against hers, +as was his way with children, and said with soothing tenderness: + +"Walawa! what's the matter with my dawtie?" + +After some vain attempts at speech, Annie succeeded in giving the +following account of the matter, much interrupted with sobs and fresh +outbursts of weeping. + +"Ye see, sir, I gaed last nicht to the missionar kirk to hear Mr Broon. +And he preached a gran' sermon, sir. But I haena been able to bide +mysel' sin' syne. For I doobt I'm ane o' the wicked 'at God hates, and +I'll never win' to haven at a', for I canna help forgettin' him whiles. +An' the wicked'll be turned into hell, and a' the nations that forget +God. That was his text, sir. And I canna bide it." + +In the bosom of the good man rose a gentle indignation against the +schismatics who had thus terrified and bewildered that sacred being, a +maid-child. But what could he say? He thought for a moment, and betook +himself, in his perplexity, to his common sense. + +"You haven't forgotten your father, have you, Annie?" said he. + +"I think aboot him maist ilka day," answered Annie. + +"But there comes a day now and then when you don't think much about +him, does there not?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Do you think he would be angry with his child because she was so much +taken up with her books or her play---" + +"I never play at onything, sir." + +"Well--with learning songs to say to Alec Forbes and Willie Macwha--do +you think he would be angry that you didn't think about him that day, +especially when you can't see him?" + +"'Deed no, sir. He wadna be sae sair upo' me as that." + +"What would he say, do you think?" + +"Gin Mr Bruce war to cast it up till me, he wad say: 'Lat alane the +lassie. She'll think aboot me the morn--time eneuch.'" + +"Well, don't you think your Father in heaven would say the same?" + +"Maybe he micht, sir. But ye see my father was my ain father, and wad +mak' the best o' me." + +"And is not God kinder than your father?" + +"He canna weel be that, sir. And there's the Scripter!" + +"But he sent his only Son to die for us." + +"Ay--for the eleck, sir," returned the little theologian. + +Now this was more than Mr Cowie was well prepared to meet, for +certainly this terrible doctrine was perfectly developed in the creed +of the Scotch Church; the assembly of divines having sat upon the +Scripture egg till they had hatched it in their own likeness. Poor Mr +Cowie! There were the girl-eyes, blue, and hazy with tearful questions, +looking up at him hungrily.--O starving little brothers and sisters! +God does love you, and all shall be, and therefore is, well.--But the +minister could not say this, gladly as he would have said it if he +could; and the only result of his efforts to find a suitable reply was +that he lost his temper--not with Annie, but with the doctrine of +election. + +"Gang ye hame, Annie, my bairn," said he, talking Scotch now, "and +dinna trouble yer heid about election, and a' that. It's no' a canny +doctrine. No mortal man could ever win at the boddom o' 't. I'm +thinkin' we haena muckle to do w' 't. Gang hame, dawtie, and say yer +prayers to be preserved frae the wiles o' Sawtan. There 's a sixpence +to ye." + +His kind heart was sorely grieved that all it could give was money. She +had asked for bread, and he had but a stone, as he thought, to give +her. So he gave it her with shame. He might however have reversed the +words of St Peter, saying, "Spiritual aid I have none, but such as I +have give I thee;" and so offered her the sixpence. But, for my part, I +think the sixpence had more of bread in it than any theology he might +have been expected to have at hand; for, so given, it was the symbol +and the sign of love, which is the heart of the divine theology. + +Annie, however, had a certain Scotchness in her which made her draw +back from the offer. + +"Na, thank ye, sir," she said; "I dinna want it." + +"Will ye no tak' it to please an auld man, bairn?" + +"Deed will I, sir, I wad do a hantle mair nor that to please you." + +And again the tears filled her blue eyes as she held out her +hand--receiving in it a shilling which Mr Cowie, for more relief to his +own burdened heart, had substituted for the sixpence. + +"It's a shillin', sir!" she said, looking up at him with the coin lying +on her open palm. + +"Weel, what for no? Is a shillin' no a saxpence?" + +"Ay, sir. It's twa." + +"Weel, Annie," said the old man, suddenly elevated into prophecy for +the child's need--for he had premeditated nothing of the sort--"maybe +whan God offers us a saxpence, it may turn oot to be twa. Good nicht, +my bairn." + +But Mr Cowie was sorely dissatisfied with himself. For not only did he +perceive that the heart of the child could not be thus satisfied, but +he began to feel something new stirring in his own bosom. The fact was +that Annie was further on than Mr Cowie. She was a child looking about +to find the face of her Father in heaven: he was but one of God's +babies, who had been lying on his knees, receiving contentedly and +happily the good things he gave him, but never looking up to find the +eyes of him from whom the good gifts came. And now the heart of the old +man, touched by the motion of the child's heart--yearning after her +Father in heaven, and yet scarcely believing that he could be so good +as her father on earth--began to stir uneasily within him. And he went +down on his knees and hid his face in his hands. + +But Annie, though not satisfied, went away comforted. After such a day +of agony and humiliation, Mr Cowie's kiss came gracious with +restoration and blessing. It had something in it which was not in Mr +Brown's sermon. And yet if she had gone to Mr Brown, she would have +found him kind too--very kind; but solemnly kind--severely kind; his +long saintly face beaming with religious tenderness--not human +cordiality; and his heart full of interest in her spiritual condition, +not sympathy with the unhappiness which his own teaching had produced; +nay, rather inclined to gloat over this unhappiness as the sign of +grace bestowed and an awakening conscience. + +But notwithstanding the comfort Mr Cowie had given her--the best he +had, poor man!--Annie's distress soon awoke again. To know that she +could not be near God in peace and love without fulfilling certain +mental conditions--that he would not have her just as she was now, +filled her with an undefined but terribly real misery, only the more +distressing that it was vague with the vagueness of the dismal negation +from which it sprung. + +It was not however the strength of her love to God that made her +unhappy in being thus barred out from him. It was rather the check thus +given to the whole upward tendency of her being, with its multitude of +undefined hopes and longings now drawing nigh to the birth. It was in +her ideal self rather than her conscious self that her misery arose. +And now, dearly as she loved Mr Cowie, she began to doubt whether he +knew much about the matter. He had put her off without answering her +questions, either because he thought she had no business with such +things, or because he had no answer to give. This latter possibly added +not a little to her unhappiness, for it gave birth to a fearful doubt +as to the final safety of kind Mr Cowie himself. + +But there was one man who knew more about such secret things, she fully +believed, than any man alive; and that man was Thomas Crann. Thomas was +a rather dreadful man, with his cold eyes, high shoulders, and wheezing +breath; and Annie was afraid of him. But she would have encountered the +terrors of the Valley of the Shadow of Death, as surely as the Pilgrim, +to get rid of the demon nightmare that lay upon her bosom, crushing the +life out of her heart. So she plucked up courage, like Christian of +old, and resolved to set out for the house of the Interpreter. Judging, +however, that he could not yet be home from his work, she thought it +better to go home herself first. + +After eating a bit of oat cake, with a mug of blue milk for _kitchie_ +(Latin "obsonium"), she retired to her garret and waited drearily, but +did not try to pray. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + +It was very dark by the time she left the house, for the night was +drizzly; but she knew the windings of Glamerton almost as well as the +way up her garret-stair. Thomas's door was half open, and a light was +shining from the kitchen. She knocked timidly. At the same moment she +heard the voice of Thomas from the other end of this house, which +consisted only of a _but and a ben_. In the ben-end (the inner +originally, hence better room) there was no light: Thomas often sat in +the dark. + +"Jean, come ben to worship," he cried roughly. + +"Comin', Thamas," answered Jean. + +Again Annie knocked, but again without result. Her knock was too +gentle. After a moment's pause, dreading that the intended prayers +might interfere with her project, she knocked yet again; but a second +time her knock was overwhelmed in the gruff call of Thomas, sounding +yet more peremptory than before. + +"Jean, come ben to worship." + +"Hoot, Thamas, hae patience, man. I canna come." + +"Jean, come ben to worship direckly." + +"I'm i' the mids' o' cleanin' the shune. I hae dooble wark o' Mononday, +ye ken." + +"The shune can bide." + +"Worship can bide." + +"Haud yer tongue. The shune can bide." + +"Na, na; they canna bide." + +"Gin ye dinna come ben this minute, I'll hae worship my lane." + +Vanquished by the awful threat, Jean dropped the shoe she held, and +turned her apron; but having to pass the door on her way to the +ben-end, she saw Annie standing on the threshold, and stopped with a +start, ejaculating: + +"The Lord preserve's, lassie!" + +"Jean, what are ye sweerin' at?" cried Thomas, angrily. + +"At Annie Anderson," answered Jean simply. + +"What for are ye sweerin' at _her_? I'm sure she's a douce lassie. What +does the bairn want?" + +"What do ye want, Annie?" + +"I want to see Thomas, gin ye please," answered Annie. + +"She wants to see you, Thomas," screamed Jean; remarking in a lower +voice, "He's as deef's a door-nail, Annie Anderson." + +"Lat her come in, than," bawled Thomas. + +"He's tellin' ye to come in, Annie," said Jean, as if she had been +interpreting his words. But she detained her nevertheless to ask +several unimportant questions. At length the voice of Thomas rousing +her once more, she hastened to introduce her. + +"Gang in there, Annie," she said, throwing open the door of the dark +room. The child entered and stood just within it, not knowing even +where Thomas sat. But a voice came to her out of the gloom: + +"Ye're no feared at the dark, are ye, Annie? Come in." + +"I dinna ken whaur I'm gaein." + +"Never min' that. Come straucht foret. I'm watchin' ye." + +For Thomas had been sitting in the dark till he could see in it (which, +however, is not an invariable result), while out of the little light +Annie had come into none at all But she obeyed the voice, and went +straight forward into the dark, evidently much to the satisfaction of +Thomas, who seizing her arm with one hand, laid the other, horny and +heavy, on her head, saying: + +"Noo, my lass, ye'll ken what faith means. Whan God tells ye to gang +into the mirk, gang!" + +"But I dinna like the mirk," said Annie. + +"No human sowl _can_," responded Thomas. "Jean, fess a can'le +direckly." + +Now Thomas was an enemy to everything that could be, justly or +unjustly, called _superstition_; and this therefore was not the answer +that might have been expected of him. But he had begun with the +symbolic and mystical in his reception of Annie, and perhaps there was +something in the lovely childishness of her unconscious faith (while +she all the time thought herself a dreadful unbeliever) that kept +Thomas to the simplicities of the mystical part of his nature. Besides, +Thomas's mind was a rendezvous for all extremes. In him they met, and +showed that they met by fighting all day long. If you knocked at his +inner door, you never could tell what would open it to you--all +depending on what happened to be _uppermost_ in the wrestle. + +The candle was brought and set on the table, showing two or three +geranium plants in the window. Why her eyes should have fixed upon +these, Annie tried to discover afterwards, when she was more used to +thinking. But she could not tell, except it were that they were so +scraggy and wretched, half drowned in the darkness, and half blanched +by the miserable light, and therefore must have been very like her own +feelings, as she stood before the ungentle but not unkind stone-mason. + +"Weel, lassie," said he, when Jean had retired, "what do ye want wi' +me?" + +Annie burst into tears again. + +"Jean, gae butt the hoose direckly," cried Thomas, on the mere chance +of his attendant having lingered at the door. And the sound of her +retreating footsteps, though managed with all possible care, +immediately justified his suspicion. This interruption turned Annie's +tears aside, and when Thomas spoke next, she was able to reply. + +"Noo, my bairn," he said, "what's the maitter?" + +"I was at the missionar kirk last nicht," faltered Annie. + +"Ay! And the sermon took a grip o' ye?--Nae doot, nae doot. Ay. Ay." + +"I canna help forgettin' _him_, Thomas." + +"But ye maun try and no forget him, lassie." + +"Sae I do. But it's dour wark, and 'maist impossible." + +"Sae it maun aye be; to the auld Aidam impossible; to the young +Christian a weary watch." + +Hope began to dawn upon Annie. + +"A body micht hae a chance," she asked with meditative suggestion, +"allooin' 'at she did forget him whiles?" + +"Nae doot, lassie. The nations that forget God are them that dinna +care, that never fash their heids, or their herts aither, aboot +him--them that were never called, never chosen." + +Annie's trouble returned like a sea-wave that had only retired to +gather strength. + +"But hoo's a body to ken whether she _be_ ane o' the elec'?" she said, +quaking. + +"That's a hard maitter. It's no needfu' to ken't aforehan'. Jist lat +that alane i' the mean time." + +"But I canna lat it alane. It's no for mysel' aither a'thegither. Could +_ye_ lat it alane, Thomas?" + +This home-thrust prevented any questioning about the second clause of +her answer. And Thomas dearly loved plain dealing. + +"Ye hae me there, lassie. Na, I cudna lat it alane. An' I never did lat +it alane. I plaguit the Lord nicht an' day till he loot me ken." + +"I tried hard last nicht," said Annie, "but the rottans war ower mony +for me." + +"Sawtan has mony wiles," said the mason reflectively. + +"Do ye think they warna rottans?' asked Annie. + +"Ow! nae doot. I daursay." + +"'Cause, gin I thocht they war only deils, I wadna care a buckie +(periwinkle) for them." + +"It's muckle the same what ye ca' them, gin they ca you frae the throne +o' grace, lassie." + +"What am I to do than, Thomas?" + +"Ye maun haud at it, lassie, jist as the poor widow did wi' the unjust +judge. An' gin the Lord hears ye, ye'll ken ye're ane o' the elec', for +it's only his own elec' that the Lord dis hear. Eh! lassie, little ye +ken aboot prayin' an' no faintin'." + +Alas for the parable if Thomas's theories were to be carried out in its +exposition! For they would lead to the conclusion that the Lord and the +unjust judge were one and the same person. But it is our divine +aspirations and not our intellectual theories that need to be carried +out. The latter may, nay must in some measure, perish; the former will +be found in perfect harmony with the divine Will; yea, true though +faint echoes of that Will--echoes from the unknown caves of our deepest +humanity, where lies, yet swathed in darkness, the divine image. + +To Thomas's words Annie's only reply was a fixed gaze, which he +answered thus, resuming his last words: + +"Ay, lassie, little ye ken aboot watchin' and prayin'. Whan it pleased +the Lord to call me, I was stan'in' my lane i' the mids' o' a +peat-moss, luikin' wast, whaur the sun had left a reid licht ahin him, +as gin he had jist brunt oot o' the lift, an' hadna gane doon ava. An' +it min'd me o' the day o' jeedgment. An' there I steid and luikit, till +the licht itsel' deid oot, an' naething was left but a gray sky an' a +feow starns intil't. An' the cloods gethered, an' the lift grew black +an' mirk; an' the haill countryside vainished, till I kent no more +aboot it than what my twa feet could answer for. An' I daurna muv for +the fear o' the pits o' water an' the walleen (well-eyes--quagmire-springs) +on ilka han'. The lee-lang nicht I stood, or lay, or kneeled upo' my +k-nees, cryin' to the Lord for grace. I forgot a' aboot election, an' +cried jist as gin I could gar him hear me by haudin' at him. An' i' the +mornin', whan the licht cam', I faund that my face was to the risin' +sun. And I crap oot o' the bog, an' hame to my ain hoose. An' ilka body +'at I met o' the road took the tither side o' 't, and glowert at me as +gin I had been a ghaist or a warlock. An' the bairns playin' aboot the +doors ran in like rabbits whan they got sicht o' me. An' I begud to +think 'at something fearsome had signed me for a reprobate; an' I jist +closed my door, and gaed to my bed, and loot my wark stan', for wha cud +wark wi' damnation hingin' ower his heid? An' three days gaed ower me, +that nothing passed my lips but a drap o' milk an' water. An' o' the +fourth day, i' the efternoon, I gaed to my wark wi' my heid swimmin' +and my hert like to brak for verra glaidness. I _was_ ane o' the +chosen.["] + +"But hoo did ye fin' that oot, Thomas?" asked Annie, trembling. + +"Weel, lassie," answered Thomas, with solemn conviction in every tone, +"it's my firm belief that, say what they like, there is, and there can +be, but _one_ way o' comin' to the knowledge o' that secret." + +"And what's that?" entreated Annie, whose life seemed to hang upon his +lips. + +"Jist this. Get a sicht o' the face o' God.--It's my belief, an' a' the +minnisters in creation'll no gar me alter my min', that no man can get +a glimp' o' the face o' God but ane o' the chosen. I'm no sayin' 'at a +man's no ane o' the elec' that hasna had that favour vouchsaufed to +_him_; but this I _do_ say, that he canna ken his election wi'oot that. +Try ye to get a sicht o' the face o' God, lassie: syne ye'll ken and be +at peace. Even Moses himsel' cudna be saitisfeed wi'oot that." + +"What is't like, Thomas?" said Annie, with an eagerness which awe made +very still. + +"No words can tell that. It's all in the speerit. Whan ye see't ye'll +ken't. There's no fear o' mistakin' _that_." + +Teacher and scholar were silent. Annie was the first to speak. She had +gained her quest. + +"Am I to gang hame noo, Thomas?" + +"Ay, gang hame, lassie, to yer prayers. But I doobt it's dark. I'll +gang wi' ye.--Jean, my shune!" + +"Na, na; I could gang hame blinlins," remonstrated Annie. + +"Haud yer tongue. I'm gaein hame wi' ye, bairn.--Jean, my shune!" + +"Hoot, Thamas! I've jist cleaned them," screeched Jean from the kitchen +at the second call. + +"Fess them here direckly. It's a jeedgment on ye for sayin' worship cud +bide better nor the shune." + +Janet brought them and put them down sulkily. In another minute the +great shoes, full of nails half an inch broad, were replaced on the +tired feet, and with her soft little hand clasped in the great horny +hand of the stonemason, Annie trotted home by his side. With Scotch +caution, Thomas, as soon as they entered the shop, instead of taking +leave of Annie, went up to the counter, and asked for an "unce o' +tobawco," as if his appearance along with Annie were merely accidental; +while Annie, with perfect appreciation of the reticence, ran through +the gap in the counter. + +She was so far comforted and so much tired, that she fell asleep at her +prayers by the bedside. Presently she awoke in terror. It was Pussy +however that had waked her, as she knew by the green eyes lamping in a +corner. But she closed her prayers rather abruptly, clambered into bed, +and was soon fast asleep. + +And in her sleep she dreamed that she stood in the darkness of the same +peat-moss which had held Thomas and his prayers all the night long. She +thought she was _kept in_ there, till she should pray enough to get +herself out of it. And she tried hard to pray, but she could not. And +she fell down in despair, beset with the terrors of those frightful +holes full of black water which she had seen on her way to Glamerton. +But a hand came out of the darkness, laid hold of hers, and lifting her +up, led her through the bog. And she dimly saw the form that led her, +and it was that of a man who walked looking upon the earth. And she +tried to see his face, but she could not, for he walked ever a little +before her. And he led her home to the old farm. And her father came to +the door to meet them. And he looked just the same as in the old happy +days, only that his face was strangely bright. And with the joy of +seeing her father she awoke to a gentle sorrow that she had not seen +also the face of her deliverer. + +The next evening she wandered down to George Macwha's, and found the +two boys at work. She had no poetry to give them, no stories to tell +them, no answer to their questions as to where she had been the night +before. She could only stand in silence and watch them. The skeleton of +the boat grew beneath their hands, but it was on the workers and not on +their work that her gaze was fixed. For her heart was burning within +her, and she could hardly restrain herself from throwing her arms about +their necks and imploring them to seek the face of God. Oh! if she only +knew that Alec and Curly were of the elect! But they only could find +that out. There was no way for her to peer into that mystery. All she +could do was to watch their wants, to have the tool they needed next +ready to their hand, to clear away the spales from before the busy +plane, and to lie in wait for any chance of putting to her little +strength to help. Perhaps they were not of the elect! She would +minister to them therefore--oh, how much the more tenderly! + +"What's come ower Annie?" said the one to the other when she had gone. + +But there was no answer to be found to the question. Could they have +understood her if she had told them what had come over her? + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + + +And so the time went on, slow-paced, with its silent destinies Annie +said her prayers, read her Bible, and tried not to forget God. Ah! +could she only have known that God never forgot her, whether she forgot +him or not, giving her sleep in her dreary garret, gladness even in +Murdoch Malison's school-room, and the light of life everywhere! He was +now leading on the blessed season of spring, when the earth would be +almost heaven enough to those who had passed through the fierceness of +the winter. Even now, the winter, old and weary, was halting away +before the sweet approaches of the spring--a symbol of that eternal +spring before whose slow footsteps Death itself, "the winter of our +discontent," shall vanish. Death alone can die everlastingly. + +I have been diffuse in my account of Annie's first winter at school, +because what impressed her should impress those who read her history. +It is her reflex of circumstance, in a great measure, which makes that +history. In regard to this portion of her life, I have little more to +say than that by degrees the school became less irksome to her; that +she grew more interested in her work; that some of the reading-books +contained extracts which she could enjoy; and that a taste for reading +began to wake in her. If ever she came to school with her lesson +unprepared, it was because some book of travel or history had had +attractions too strong for her. And all that day she would go about +like a guilty thing, oppressed by a sense of downfall and neglected +duty. + +With Alec it was very different. He would often find himself in a +similar case; but the neglect would make no impression on his +conscience; or if it did, he would struggle hard to keep down the sense +of dissatisfaction which strove to rise within him, and enjoy himself +in spite of it. + +Annie, again, accepted such as her doom, and went about gently unhappy, +till neglect was forgotten in performance. There is nothing that can +wipe out wrong but right. + +And still she haunted George Macwha's workshop, where the boat soon +began to reveal the full grace of its lovely outlines. Of all the works +of man's hands, except those that belong to Art, a boat is the +loveliest, and, in the old sense of the word, the _liveliest_. Why is +this? Is it that it is born between Wind and Water?--Wind the father, +ever casting himself into multitudinous shapes of invisible tides, +taking beauteous form in the sweep of a "lazy-paced cloud," or +embodying a transient informing freak in the waterspout, which he draws +into his life from the bosom of his mate;--Water, the mother, visible +she, sweeping and swaying, ever making and ever unmade, the very +essence of her being--beauty, yet having no form of her own, and yet +again manifesting herself in the ceaseless generation of passing forms? +If the boat be the daughter of these, the stable child of visible and +invisible subtlety, made to live in both, and shape its steady course +between their varying and conflicting forces--if her Ideal was modelled +between the flap of airy pinions and the long ranging flow of the +serpent water, how could the lines of her form fail of grace? + +Nor in this case were the magic influences of verse wanting to mould +and model a boat which from prow to stern should be lovely and +fortunate. As Pandemonium + + "Rose like an exhalation, with the sound + Of dulcet symphonies and voices sweet," + +so the little boat grew to the sound of Annie's voice uttering not +Runic Rhymes, but old Scotch ballads, or such few sweet English poems, +of the new revelation, as floated across her way, and folded their +butterfly wings in her memory. + +I have already said that reading became a great delight to her. Mr +Cowie threw his library, with very little restriction, open to her; and +books old and new were all new to her. She carried every fresh one home +with a sense of riches and a feeling of _upliftedness_ which I can ill +describe. She gloated over the thought of it, as she held it tight in +her hand, with feelings resembling, and yet how unlike, those of Johnny +Bruce when he crept into his rabbits' barrel to devour the pennyworth +of _plunky_ (a preparation of treacle and flour) which his brother +would else have compelled him to share. Now that the days were longer, +she had plenty of time to read; for although her so-called guardians +made cutting remarks upon her idleness, they had not yet compelled her +to nursing or needlework. If she had shown the least inclination to +either, her liberty would have been gone from that moment; but, with +the fear of James Dow before their eyes, they let her alone. As to her +doing anything in the shop, she was far too much of an alien to be +allowed to minister in the lowliest office of that sacred temple of +Mammon. So she read everything she could lay her hands upon; and as +often as she found anything peculiarly interesting, she would take the +book to the boat, where the boys were always ready to listen to +whatever she brought them. And this habit made her more dircerning +[sic] and choice. + +Before I leave the school, however, I must give one more scene out of +its history. + +One mid-day in spring, just as the last of a hail-shower was passing +away, and a sickly sunbeam was struggling out, the schoolroom-door +opened, and in came Andrew Truffey, with a smile on his worn face, +which shone in touching harmony with the watery gleam of the sun +between the two hail-storms--for another was close at hand. He swung +himself in on the new pivot of his humanity, namely his crutch, which +every one who saw him believed at once he was never more to go without, +till he sank wearied on the road to the grave, and had to be carried +the rest of the way. He looked very long and deathly, for he had grown +much while lying in bed. + +The master rose hurriedly from his desk, and advanced to meet him. A +deep stillness fell upon the scholars. They dropped all their work, and +gazed at the meeting. The master held out his hand. With awkwardness +and difficulty Andrew presented the hand which had been holding the +crutch; and, not yet thoroughly used to the management of it, staggered +in consequence and would have fallen. But the master caught him in his +arms and carried him to his old seat beside his brother. + +"Thank ye, sir," said the boy with another gleamy smile, through which +his thin features and pale, prominent eyes told yet more plainly of sad +suffering--all the master's fault, as the master knew. + +"Leuk at the dominie," said Curly to Alec. "He's greitin'." + +For Mr Malison had returned to his seat and had laid his head down on +the desk, evidently to hide his emotion. + +"Haud yer tongue, Curly. Dinna leuk at him," returned Alec. "He's sorry +for poor Truffey." + +Every one behaved to the master that day with marked respect. And from +that day forward Truffey was in universal favour. + +Let me once more assert that Mr Malison was not a bad man. The +misfortune was, that his notion of right fell in with his natural +fierceness; and that, in aggravation of the too common feeling with +which he had commenced his relations with his pupils, namely, that they +were not only the natural enemies of the master, but therefore of all +law, theology had come in and taught him that they were in their own +nature bad--with a badness for which the only set-off he knew or could +introduce was blows. Independently of any remedial quality that might +be in them, these blows were an embodiment of justice; for "every sin," +as the catechism teaches, "deserveth God's wrath and curse both in this +life and that which is to come." The master therefore was only a +co-worker with God in every pandy he inflicted on his pupils. + +I do not mean that he reasoned thus, but that such-like were the +principles he had to act upon. And I must add that, with all his +brutality, he was never guilty of such cruelty as one reads of +occasionally as perpetrated by English schoolmasters of the present +day. Nor were the boys ever guilty of such cruelty to their fellows as +is not only permitted but excused in the public schools of England. The +taws, likewise, is a far less cruel instrument of torture than the +cane, which was then unknown in that region. + +And now the moderation which had at once followed upon the accident was +confirmed. Punishment became less frequent still, and where it was yet +inflicted for certain kinds and degrees of offence, its administration +was considerably less severe than formerly; till at length the boys +said that the master never put on black stockings now, except when he +was "oot o' white anes." Nor did the discipline of the school suffer in +consequence. If one wants to make a hard-mouthed horse more responsive +to the rein, he must relax the pressure and friction of the bit, and +make the horse feel that he has got to hold up his own head. If the +rider supports himself by the reins, the horse will pull. + +But the marvel was to see how Andrew Truffey haunted and dogged the +master. He was as it were a conscious shadow to him. There was no hour +of a holiday in which Truffey could not tell precisely where the master +was. If one caught sight of Andrew, _hirpling_ down a passage, or +leaning against a corner, he might be sure the master would pass within +a few minutes. And the haunting of little Truffey worked so on his +conscience, that, if the better nature of him had not asserted itself +in love to the child, he would have been compelled to leave the place. +For think of having a visible sin of your own, in the shape of a +lame-legged boy, peeping at you round every other corner! + +But he did learn to love the boy; and therein appeared the divine +vengeance--ah! how different from human vengeance!--that the outbreak +of unrighteous wrath reacted on the wrong-doer in shame, repentance, +and love. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + + +At length the boat was calked, tarred, and painted. + +One evening as Annie entered the workshop, she heard Curly cry, + +"Here she is, Alec!" + +and Alec answer, + +"Let her come. I'm just done." + +Alec stood at the stern of the boat, with a pot in one hand, and a +paint-brush in the other; and, when Annie came near, she discovered to +her surprise, and not a little to her delight, that he was just +finishing off the last E of "THE BONNIE ANNIE." + +"There," said he, "that's her name. Hoo de ye like it, Annie?" + +Annie was too much pleased to reply. She looked at it for a while with +a flush on her face: and then turning away, sought her usual seat on +the heap of spales. + +How much that one winter, with its dragons and its heroes, its +boat-building and its rhymes, its discomforts at home and its +consolations abroad, its threats of future loss, and comforts of +present hope, had done to make the wild country child into a thoughtful +little woman! + +Now who should come into the shop at the moment but Thomas Crann!--the +very man of all men not to be desired on the occasion; for the boys had +contemplated a certain ceremony of christening, which they dared not +carry out in the presence of the stone-mason; without which, however, +George Macwha was very doubtful whether the little craft would prove a +lucky one.--By common understanding they made no allusion to the +matter, thus postponing it for the present. + +"Ay! ay! Alec," said Thomas; "sae yer boat's bigget at last!" + +He stood contemplating it for a moment, not without some hardly +perceptible signs of admiration, and then said: + +"Gin ye had her out upon a muckle water, do ye think ye wad jump oot +ower the side o' her, gin the Saviour tauld ye, Alec Forbes?" + +"Ay wad I, gin I war richt sure he wantit me." + +"Ye wad stan' an' parley wi' him, nae doot?" + +"I bude (behoved) to be richt sure it was his ain sel', ye ken, an' +that he did call me." + +"Ow ay, laddie! That's a' richt. Weel, I houp ye wad. I aye had guid +houps o' ye, Alec, my man. But there may be sic a thing as loupin' into +the sea o' life oot o' the ark o' salvation; an' gin ye loup in whan he +doesna call ye, or gin ye getna a grip o' his han', whan he does, ye're +sure to droon, as sure's ane o' the swine that ran heedlong in and +perished i' the water." + +Alec had only a dim sense of his meaning, but he had faith that it was +good, and so listened in respectful silence. Surely enough of sacred as +well as lovely sound had been uttered over the boat to make her +faithful and fortunate! + +The hour arrived at length when _The Bonnie Annie_ was to be launched. +It was one of a bright Saturday afternoon, in the month of May, full of +a kind of tearful light, which seemed to say: "Here I am, but I go +to-morrow!" Yet though there might be plenty of cold weather to come, +though the hail might; fall in cart-loads, and the snow might lie thick +for a day or two, there would be no more frozen waters, and the boughs +would be bare and desolate no more. A few late primroses were peeping +from the hollows damp with moss and shadow along the banks, and the +trees by the stream were in small young leaf. There was a light wind +full of memories of past summers and promises for the new one at hand, +one of those gentle winds that blow the eyes of the flowers open, that +the earth may look at the heaven. In the midst of this baby-waking of +the world, the boat must glide into her new life. + +Alec got one of the men on the farm to _yoke a horse_ to bring the boat +to the river. With the help of George she was soon placed in the cart, +and Alec and Curly got in beside her. The little creature looked very +much like a dead fish, as she lay jolting in the hot sun, with a motion +irksome to her delicate sides, her prow sticking awkwardly over the +horse's back, and her stern projecting as far beyond the cart behind. +Thus often is the human boat borne painfully to the stream on which +thereafter it shall glide contentedly through and out of the world. + +When they had got about half-way, Alec said to Curly: + +"I wonner what's come o' Annie, Curly? It wad be a shame to lainch the +boat wantin' her." + +"Deed it wad. I s' jist rin and luik after her, an' ye can luik efter +the boat." + +So saying, Curly was out of the cart with a bound. Away he ran over a +field of potatoes, straight as the crow flies, while the cart went +slowly on towards the Glamour. + +"Whaur's Annie Anderson?" he cried, as he burst into Robert Bruce's +shop. + +"What's _your_ business?" asked the Bruce--a question which evidently +looked for no answer. + +"Alec wants her." + +"Weel, he will want her," retorted Robert, shutting his jaws with a +snap, and grinning a smileless grin from ear to ear, like the steel +clasp of a purse. By such petty behaviour he had long ago put himself +on an equality with the young rascals generally, and he was no match +for them on their own level. + +Curly left the shop at once, and went round by the close into the +garden, where he found Annie loitering up and down with the baby in her +arms, and looking very weary. This was in fact the first time she had +had to carry the baby, and it fatigued her dreadfully. Till now Mrs +Bruce had had the assistance of a ragged child, whose father owed them +money for groceries: he could not pay it, and they had taken his +daughter instead. Long ago, however, she had slaved it out, and had at +length gone back to school. The sun was hot, the baby was heavy, and +Annie felt all arms and back--they were aching so with the unaccustomed +drudgery. She was all but crying when Curly darted to the gate, his +face glowing with his run, and his eyes sparkling with excitement. + +"Come, Annie," cried he; "we're gaein' to lainch the boat." + +"I canna, Curly; I hae the bairn to min'." + +"Tak the bairn in til 'ts mither." + +"I daurna." + +"Lay't doon o' the table, an' rin." + +"Na, na, Curly; I cudna do that. Puir little crater!" + +"Is the beastie heavy?" asked Curly, with deceitful interest. + +"Dreadfu'." + +"Lat's try." + +"Ye'll lat her fa'." + +"Deed no. I'm no sae fusionless (pithless). Gie's a haud o' her." + +Annie yielded her charge; but no sooner had Curly possession of the +baby, than he bounded away with her out of the garden into the back +yard adjoining the house. Now in this yard, just opposite the +kitchen-window, there was a huge sugar-cask, which, having been +converted into a reservoir, stood under a spout, and was at this moment +half full of rain-water. Curly, having first satisfied himself that Mrs +Bruce was at work in the kitchen, and therefore sure to see him, +mounted a big stone that lay beside the barrel, and pretended to lower +the baby into the water, as if trying how much she would endure with +equanimity. In a moment, he received such a box on the ear that, had he +not been prepared for it, he would in reality have dropped the child +into the barrel. The same moment the baby was in its mother's arms, and +Curly sitting at the foot of the barrel, nursing his head, and +pretending to suppress a violent attack of weeping. The angry mother +sped into the house with her rescued child. + +No sooner had she disappeared than Curly was on his feet scudding back +to Annie, who had been staring over the garden-gate in utter +bewilderment at his behaviour. She could no longer resist his +entreaties: off she ran with him to the banks of the Glamour, where +they soon came upon Alec and the man in the act of putting the boat on +the slip, which, in the present instance, was a groove hollowed out of +a low part of the bank, so that she might glide in more gradually. + +"Hurrah! There's Annie!" cried Alec.--"Come awa', Annie. Here's a glass +o' whisky I got frae my mither to kirsten the boat. Fling't at the name +o' her." + +Annie did as she was desired, to the perfect satisfaction of all +present, particularly of the long, spare, sinewy farm-servant, who had +contrived, when Alec's back was turned, to swallow the whisky and +substitute Glamour water, which no doubt did equally well for the +purposes of the ceremony. Then with a gentle push from all, the _Bonnie +Annie_, slid into the Glamour, where she lay afloat in contented grace, +as unlike herself in the cart as a swan waddling wearily to the water +is unlike the true swan-self when her legs have no longer to support +her weight, but to oar her along through the friendly upholding +element. + +"Isna she bonnie?" cried Annie in delight. + +And indeed she was bonnie, in her green and white paint, lying like a +great water-beetle ready to scamper over the smooth surface. Alec +sprang on board, nearly upsetting the tiny craft. Then he held it by a +bush on the bank while Curly handed in Annie, who sat down in the +stern. Curly then got in himself, and Alec and him seized each an oar. + +But what with their inexperience and the nature of the channel, they +found it hard to get along. The river was full of great stones, making +narrow passages, so that, in some parts, it was not possible to row. +They knew nothing about the management of a boat, and were no more at +ease than if they had been afloat in a tub. Alec being stronger in the +arms than Curly, they went round and round for some time, as if in a +whirlpool, with a timeless and grotesque spluttering and sprawling. At +last they gave it up in weariness, and allowed the _Bonnie Annie_ to +float along the stream, taking care only to keep her off the rocks. +Past them went the banks--here steep and stony, but green with moss +where little trickling streams found their way into the channel; there +spreading into low alluvial shores, covered with lovely grass, starred +with daisies and buttercups, from which here and there rose a willow, +whose low boughs swept the water. A little while ago, they had skated +down its frozen surface, and had seen a snowy land shooting past them; +now with an unfelt gliding, they floated down, and the green meadows +dreamed away as if they would dream past them for ever.--Suddenly, as +they rounded the corner of a rock, a great roar of falling water burst +on their ears, and they started in dismay, + +"The sluice is up!" cried Alec. "Tak' to yer oar, Curly." + +Along this part of the bank, some twenty feet above them, ran a +mill-race, which a few yards lower down communicated by means of a +sluice with the river. This sluice was now open, for, from the late +rains, there was too much water; and the surplus rushed from the race +into the Glamour in a foaming cataract. Annie seeing that the boys were +uneasy, got very frightened, and, closing her eyes, sat motionless. +Louder and louder grew the tumult of the waters, till their sound +seemed to fall in a solid thunder on her brain. The boys tried hard to +row against the stream, but without avail. Slowly and surely it carried +them down into the very heart of the boiling fall; for on this side +alone was the channel deep enough for the boat, and the banks were too +steep and bare to afford any hold. At last, the boat drifting stern +foremost, a torrent of water struck Annie, and tumbled into the boat as +if it would beat out the bottom of it. Annie was tossed about in fierce +waters, and ceased to know anything. When she came to herself, she was +in an unknown bed, with the face of Mrs Forbes bending anxiously over +her. She would have risen, but Mrs Forbes told her to lie still, which +indeed Annie found much more pleasant. + +As soon as they got under the fall the boat had filled and foundered. +Alec and Curly could swim like otters, and were out of the pool at +once. As they went down, Alec had made a plunge to lay hold of Annie, +but had missed her. The moment he got his breath, he swam again into +the boiling pool, dived, and got hold of her; but he was so stupefied +by the force of the water falling upon him and beating him down, that +he could not get out of the raging depth--for here the water was many +feet deep--and as he would not leave his hold of Annie, was in danger +of being drowned. Meantime Curly had scrambled on shore and climbed up +to the mill-race, where he shut down the sluice hard. In a moment the +tumult had ceased, and Alec and Annie were in still water. In a moment +more he had her on the bank, apparently lifeless, whence he carried her +home to his mother in terror. She immediately resorted to one or two of +the usual restoratives, and was presently successful. + +As soon as she had opened her eyes, Alec and Curly hurried off to get +out their boat. They met the miller in an awful rage; for the sudden +onset of twice the quantity of water on his overshot wheel, had set his +machinery off as if it had been bewitched, and one old stone, which had +lost its iron girdle, had flown in pieces, to the frightful danger of +the miller and his men. + +"Ye ill-designed villains!" cried he at a venture, "what gart ye close +the sluice? I s' learn ye to min' what ye're aboot. Deil tak' ye for +rascals!" + +And he seized one in each brawny hand. + +"Annie Anderson was droonin' aneath the waste-water," answered Curly +promptly. + +"The Lord preserve 's!" said the miller, relaxing his hold "Hoo was +that? Did she fa' in?" + +The boys told him the whole story. In a few minutes more the back-fall +was again turned off, and the miller was helping them to get their boat +out. The _Bonnie Annie_ was found uninjured. Only the oars and +stretchers had floated down the stream, and were never heard of again. + +Alec had a terrible scolding from his mother for getting Annie into +such mischief. Indeed Mrs Forbes did not like the girl's being so much +with her son; but she comforted herself with the probability that by +and by Alec would go to college, and forget her. Meantime, she was very +kind to Annie, and took her home herself, in order to excuse her +absence, the blame of which she laid entirely on Alec, not knowing that +thereby she greatly aggravated any offence of which Annie might have +been guilty. Mrs Bruce solemnly declared her conviction that a judgment +had fallen upon her for Willie Macwha's treatment of her baby. + +"Gin I hadna jist gotten a glimp o' him in time, he wad hae drooned the +bonny infant afore my verra een. It's weel waured on them!" + +It did not occur to her that a wet skin was so very moderate a +punishment for child-murder, that possibly there had been no connection +between them. + +This first voyage of the _Bonnie Annie_ may seem a bad beginning; but I +am not sure that most good ends have not had such a bad beginning. +Perhaps the world itself may be received as a case in point. Alec and +Curly went about for a few days with a rather subdued expression. But +as soon as the boat was refitted, they got George Macwha to go with +them for cockswain; and under his instructions, they made rapid +progress in rowing and sculling. Then Annie was again their companion, +and, the boat being by this time fitted with a rudder, had several +lessons in steering, in which she soon became proficient. Many a +moonlight row they had on the Glamour; and many a night after Curly and +Annie had gone home, would Alec again unmoor the boat, and drop down +the water alone, letting the banks go dreaming past him--not always +sure that he was not dreaming himself, and would not suddenly awake and +find himself in his bed, and not afloat between heaven and earth, with +the moon above and the moon below him. I think it was in these seasons +that he began first to become aware of a certain stillness pervading +the universe like a law; a stillness ever being broken by the cries of +eager men, yet ever closing and returning with gentleness not to be +repelled, seeking to infold and penetrate with its own healing the +minds of the noisy children of the earth. But he paid little heed to +the discovery then, for he was made for activity, and in activity he +found his repose. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + + +My story must have shown already that, although several years younger +than Alec, Annie had much more character and personality than he. Alec +had not yet begun to look realities in the face. The very nobility and +fearlessness of his nature had preserved him from many such actions as +give occasion for looking within and asking oneself whereto things are +tending. Full of life and restless impulses to activity, all that could +properly be required of him as yet was that the action into which he +rushed should be innocent, and if conventionally mischievous, yet +actually harmless. Annie, comfortless at home, gazing all about her to +see if there was a rest anywhere for her, had been driven by the +outward desolation away from the window of the world to that other +window that opens on the regions of silent being where God is, and into +which when his creatures enter, or even look, the fountain of their +life springs aloft with tenfold vigour and beauty. Alec, whose home was +happy, knew nothing of that sense of discomfort which is sometimes the +herald of a greater need. But he was soon to take a new start in his +intellectual relations; nor in those alone, seeing the change was the +result of a dim sense of duty. The fact of his not being a scholar to +the mind of Murdoch Malison, arose from no deficiency of intellectual +_power_, but only of intellectual _capacity_--for the indefinite +enlargement of which a fitting excitement from without is alone +requisite. + +The season went on, and the world, like a great flower afloat in space, +kept opening its thousandfold blossom. Hail and sleet were things lost +in the distance of the year--storming away in some far-off region of +the north, unknown to the summer generation. The butterflies, with +wings looking as if all the flower-painters of fairyland had wiped +their brushes upon them in freakful yet artistic sport, came forth in +the freedom of their wills and the faithful ignorance of their minds. +The birds, the poets of the animal creation--what though they never get +beyond the lyrical!--awoke to utter their own joy, and awake like joy +in others of God's children. The birds grew silent, because their +history laid hold upon them, compelling them to turn their words into +deeds, and keep eggs warm, and hunt for worms. The butterflies died of +old age and delight. The green life of the earth rushed up in corn to +be ready for the time of need. The corn grew ripe, and therefore weary, +hung its head, died, and was laid aside for a life beyond its own. The +keen sharp old mornings and nights of autumn came back as they had come +so many thousand times before, and made human limbs strong and human +hearts sad and longing. Winter would soon be near enough to stretch out +a long forefinger once more, and touch with the first frosty shiver +some little child that loved summer, and shrunk from the cold. + +One evening in early autumn, when the sun, almost on the edge of the +horizon, was shining right in at the end of one of the principal +streets, filling its whole width with its glory of molten roses, all +the shopkeepers were standing in their doors. Little groups of country +people, bearing a curious relation to their own legs, were going in +various directions across the square. Loud laughter, very much like +animal noises, now and then invaded the ear; but the sound only rippled +the wide lake of the silence. The air was perfumed with the scent of +peat fires and the burning of weeds and potato-tops. There was no +fountain to complete the harmony, but the intermittent gushes from the +spout of the great pump in the centre of the square were no bad +substitute. At all events, they supplied the sound of water, without +which Nature's orchestra is not full. + +Wattie Sim, the watchmaker, long and lank, with grey bushy eyebrows +meeting over his nose, wandered, with the gait of a heedless pair of +compasses, across from his own shop to Redford the bookseller's, at +whose door a small group was already gathered. + +"Well, Wattie," said Captain Clashmach, "how goes the world with you?" + +"Muckle the same's wi' yersel', Captain, and the doctor there," +answered Wattie with a grin. "Whan the time's guid for ither fowk, it's +but sae sae for you and me. I haena had a watch come in for a haill ook +(week)." + +"Hoo de ye accoont for that, Mr Sim?" asked a shoemaker who stood near +without belonging to the group. + +"It's the ile, man, the ile. Half the mischeef o' watches is the ile." + +"But I don't see," said the doctor, "how that can be, Sim." + +"Weel, ye see, sir," answered Wattie--and the words seemed somehow to +have come tumbling silently down over the ridge of his nose, before he +caught them in his mouth and articulated them--"ye see, sir, watches is +delicat things. They're not to be traitet like fowk's insides wi' +onything 'at comes first. Gin I cud jist get the middle half-pint oot +o' the hert o' a hogsheid o' sperm ile, I wad I sud keep a' yer watches +gaein like the verra universe. But it wad be an ill thing for me, ye +ken. Sae maybe a' thing's for the best efter a'.--Noo, ye see, i' this +het weather, the ile keeps fine an' saft, and disna clog the +warks.--But losh preserves a'! What's that?" + +Staring up the street towards the sunset, which coloured all their +faces a red bronze, stood a group of townsfolk, momently increasing, +from which, before Wattie's party could reach it, burst a general +explosion of laughter. It was some moments, however, before they +understood what was the matter, for the great mild sun shone full in +their eyes. At length they saw, as if issuing from the huge heavy orb, +a long dark line, like a sea-serpent of a hundred joints, coming down +the street towards them, and soon discovered that it was a slow +procession of animals. First came Mistress Stephen, Stumpin Steenie the +policeman's cow, with her tail at full stretch behind her. To the end +of her tail was tied the nose of Jeames Joss the cadger's horse--a +gaunt sepulchral animal, which age and ill-treatment had taught to move +as if knees and hocks were useless refinements in locomotion. He had +just enough of a tail left to tie the nose of another cow to; and so, +by the accretion of living joints, the strange monster lengthened out +into the dim fiery distance. + +When Mrs Stephen reached the square, she turned to lead her train +diagonally across it, for in that direction lay her home. Moved by the +same desire, the cadger's horse wanted to go in exactly the opposite +direction. The cow pulled the one way, and the horse pulled the other; +but the cow, having her head free, had this advantage over the horse, +which was fast at both ends. So he gave in, and followed his less noble +leader. Cow after horse, and horse after cow, with a majority of cows, +followed, to the number of twenty or so; after which the joints began +to diminish in size. Two calves were at the tail of the last cow, a +little Highland one, with a sheep between them. Then came a goat +belonging to Charles Chapman the wool-carder, the only goat in the +place, which as often as the strain on his own tail slackened, made a +butt at that of the calf in front of him. Next came a diminishing +string of disreputable dogs, to the tail of the last of which was +fastened the only cat the inventors of this novel pastime had been able +to catch. At her tail followed--alas!--Andrew Truffey's white rabbit, +whose pink eyes, now fixed and glazed, would no more delight the +imagination of the poor cripple; and whose long furry hind legs would +never more bang the ground in sovereign contempt, as he dared pursuit; +for the dull little beast, having, with the stiffneckedness of fear, +persisted in pulling against the string that tied him to the tail of +Widow Wattles's great tom-cat, was now trailed ignominiously upon his +side, with soiled fur and outstretched neck--the last joint, and only +dead one, of this bodiless tail. + +Before Mistress Stephen had reached her home, and just as the last link +of the chain had appeared on the square, the mirth was raised to a yet +higher pitch by the sudden rush of several women to the rescue, who had +already heard the news of the ignominious abduction of their honoured +_kye_, and their shameful exposure to public ridicule. Each made for +her own four-footed property. + +"Guid preserve's, Hawkie! are ye come to this?" cried Lucky Lapp, as +she limped, still and ever lame with rheumatism, towards the third +member of the procession. "Gin I had the loon that did it," she went +on, fumbling, with a haste that defeated itself, at the knot that bound +Hawkie's nose to the tail of the cadger's horse--"gin I had the loon +'at did it, I wad ding the sowl oot o' his wame, the villain!" + +"Losh! it's my ain cat, as weel's my ain coo." screamed Lucky Wattles +in twofold indignation. "Gin I cud but redd (comb) the scoonrel's heid +wi' your cleuks, Baudrons!" she added, as she fondled the cat +passionately, "he wadna be in sic a doom's hurry to han'le ye again, +Is' wad (wager)." + +By this time Stumpin' Steenie, having undone his cow's tail, was +leading her home amid shouts of laughter. + +"Pit her i' the lock-up, Steenie. She's been takin' up wi' ill loons," +screeched an urchin. + +"Haud yer ill tongue, or I s' tak' you up, ye rascal," bawled Steenie. + +"Ye'll hae to saiddle Mistress Stephen afore ye can catch me, Stumpin' +Steenie!" + +Steenie, inflamed with sudden wrath, forsook the cow, and made an +elephantine rush at the offender, who vanished in the crowd, and thus +betrayed the constable to another shout of laughter. + +While the laugh was yet ringing, the burly figure of the stonemason +appeared, making his way by the momentum of great bulk and slow motion +to the front of the crowd. Without a word to any one, he drew a knife +from his pocket, and proceeded to cut every cord that bound the +helpless animals, the people staring silent all the while. + +It was a sight to see how the dogs scampered off in the delight of +their recovered freedom. But the rabbit lay where the cat had left him. +Thomas took it with some sign of tenderness, and holding it up in his +huge hand, put the question to the crowd in general. + +"Wha's aucht this?" + +"It's cripple Truffey's?" piped a shrill little voice. + +"Tell him 'at I'll account for't," rejoined Thomas, and putting the +animal in his pocket, departed. + +He took the nearest way to George Macwha's workshop, where he found +Alec and Curly, as he had expected, busy or appearing to be busy about +something belonging to their boat. They looked considerably hotter, +however, than could be accounted for by their work. This confirmed +Thomas's suspicions. + +"A fine ploy yon for a young gentleman, Alec!" said he. + +"What ploy, Thomas?" asked Alec, with attempted innocence. + +"Ye ken weel eneuch what ploy I mean, man." + +"Weel, supposin' I do--there's nae that muckle hairm dune, to mak' a +wark aboot, surely, Thomas." + +"Ca' ye that no hairm?" rejoined Thomas, pulling the dead rabbit out of +his pocket, and holding it up by the ears. "Ca' ye that no hairm?" he +repeated. + +Alec stared in dismay. Thomas well knew his regard for animals, and had +calculated upon it. + +"Luik at the puir thing wi' its bonny reid een closed for ever! It's a +mercy to think 'at there's no lemin' and lowin' (blazing and flaming) +future in store for hit, puir mappy (bunny)!" + +"Hoot, hoot, Thamas, man! Isna that bein' richteous overmuch, as oor +minister wad say?" + +The question came in the husky voice of Peter Whaup, the blacksmith, +who was now discovered leaning in over the half-door of the shop. + +"And wha's _your_ minister, Peter, my man?" retorted Thomas, with some +acrimony. + +"Mr Cooie, as ye weel ken, Thamas." + +"I thoucht as muckle. The doctrine savours o' the man, Peter. There's +no fear o' him or ony o' his followers bein' richteous over-much." + +"Weel, ye ken, that's naething but a rabbit i' yer han'. It wad hae +been worried some day. Hoo cam' 't by 'ts deith?" + +"I didna mean to kill't. 'Twas a' for fun, ye ken," said Alec, +addressing Thomas. + +"There's a heap o' fun," answered Thomas with solemnity, "that carries +deith i' the tail o' 't. Here's the puir cripple laddie's rabbit as +deid's a herrin', and him at hame greetin' his een oot, I daursay." + +Alec caught up his cap and made for the door. + +"I'll gang and see him. Curly, wha has ony rabbits to sell?" + +"Doddles's cleckit aboot a month ago." + +"Whaur does Doddles bide?" + +"I'll lat ye see." + +The boys were hurrying together from the shop, when Thomas caught Alec +by the arm. + +"Ye canna restore the rabbit, Alec." + +"Hoot! Thamas, ae rabbit's as guid's anither," interposed the smith, in +a tone indicating disapprobation, mingled with a desire to mollify. + +"Ay--to them 'at cares for neither. But there's sic a thing as a human +election, as weel's a divine ane; an' ane's no the same's anither, ance +it's a chosen ane." + +"Weel, I pity them 'at the Lord has no pity upo'," sighed the smith, +with a passing thought of his own fits of drinking. + +"Gang ye and try him. He may hae pity upo' you--wha kens?" said Thomas, +as he followed Alec, whom he had already released, out of the shop. + +"Ye see, Alec," he resumed in a low voice, when they were in the open +air--Curly going on before them, "it's time 'at ye was growin' a man, +and pittin' awa' childish things. Yer mither 'll be depen'in' upo' you, +or lang, to haud things gaein'; and ye ken gin ye negleck yer chance at +the school, yer time'll no come ower again. Man, ye sud try to do +something for conscience-sake. Hae ye learnt yer lessons for the morn, +noo?" + +"No, Thomas. But I will. I'm jist gaein' to buy a pair o' rabbits to +Truffey; and syne I'll gang hame." + +"There's a guid lad. Ye'll be a comfort till yer mither some day yet." + +With these words, Thomas turned and left them. + +There had been a growing, though it was still a vague sense, in Alec's +mind, that he was not doing well; and this rebuke of Thomas Crann +brought it full into the light of his own consciousness. From that day +he worked better. Mr Malison saw the change, and acknowledged it. This +reacted on Alec's feeling for the master; and during the following +winter he made three times the progress he had made in any winter +preceding. + +For the sea of summer ebbed away, and the rocky channels of the winter +appeared, with its cold winds, its ghost-like mists, and the damps and +shiverings that cling about the sepulchre in which Nature lies +sleeping. The boat was carefully laid up, across the rafters of the +barn, well wrapped in a shroud of tarpaulin. It was buried up in the +air; and the Glamour on which it had floated so gaily, would soon be +buried under the ice. Summer alone could bring them together again--the +one from the dry gloom of the barn, the other from the cold seclusion +of its wintry hebetude. + +Meantime Mrs Forbes was somewhat troubled in her mind as to what should +be done with Alec; and she often talked with the schoolmaster about +him. Herself of higher birth, socially considered, than her husband, +she had the ambition that her son should be educated for some +profession. Now in Scotland education is more easily got than almost +anything else; and whether there might be room for the exercise of the +profession afterwards, was a matter of less moment to Mrs Forbes, +seeing she was not at all willing that the farm which had been in her +husband's family for hundreds of years, should pass into the hands of +strangers, and Alec himself had the strongest attachment to the +ancestral soil; for to be loved it is not necessary that land should be +freehold. At length his increased diligence, which had not escaped her +observation, and was testified to by Mr Malison, confirmed her +determination that he should at least go to college. He would be no +worse a farmer for having an _A.M_. after his name; while the +curriculum was common to all the professions. So it was resolved that, +in the following winter, he should _compete for a bursary_. + +The communication that his fate lay in that direction roused Alec still +more. Now that an ulterior object rendered them attractive, he turned +his attention to the classics with genuine earnestness; and, on a +cloudy day in the end of October, found himself on the box-seat of the +Royal Mail, with his trunk on the roof behind him, bound for a certain +city whose advantages are not confined to the possession of a +university. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + + +After driving through long streets, brilliant with shops of endless +marvel, the coachman pulled up for the last time. It was a dull drizzly +evening, with sudden windy gusts, and, in itself, dark as pitch. But +Alec descended, cold and wet, in a brilliant light which flowed from +the door of the hotel as if it had been the very essence of its +structure. A porter took charge of his box, hoisted it on his back, and +led the way to the address he gave him. + +Notwithstanding the drizzle, and the angry rushes of the wind round the +street-corners, the foot-pavements were filled with men and women, +moving in different directions, like a double row of busy ants. Through +queer short cuts that terribly bewildered the way, the porter led him +to the house, and pushing the door open, went up two flights of stone +stairs and knocked at a door on the landing. Alec was shown into a room +where a good fire was blazing away with a continuous welcome; and when +seated by it drinking his tea, he saw the whole world golden through +the stained windows of his imagination. + +But his satisfaction gradually passed into a vague longing after +something else. Would human nature be more perfect were it capable of +being satisfied with cakes and ale? Alec felt as if he had got to the +borders of fairy-land, and _something_ was going to happen. A door +would open and admit him into the secret of the world. But the door was +so long in opening, that he took to unpacking his box; when, as he +jumped up to thank his mother for some peculiar remembrance of his +likings, the whole affair suddenly changed to a rehearsal of death; and +his longings for the remainder of the night were towards the past. + +He rose in the morning with the feeling revived, that something intense +was going on all arouud. But the door into life generally opens behind +us, and a hand is put forth which draws us in backwards. The sole +wisdom for man or boy who is haunted with the hovering of unseen wings, +with the scent of unseen roses, and the subtle enticements of "melodies +unheard," is _work_. If he follow any of those, they will vanish. But +if he work, they will come unsought, and, while they come, he will +believe that there is a fairy-land, where poets find their dreams, and +prophets are laid hold of by their visions. The idle beat their heads +against its walls, or mistake the entrance, and go down into the dark +places of the earth. + +Alec stood at the window, and peered down into the narrow street, +through which, as in a channel between rocks burrowed into dwellings, +ran the ceaseless torrent of traffic. He felt at first as if life at +least had opened its gates, and he had been transported into the midst +of its drama. But in a moment the show changed, turning first into a +meaningless procession; then into a chaos of conflicting atoms; +re-forming itself at last into an endlessly unfolding coil, no break in +the continuity of which would ever reveal the hidden mechanism. For to +no mere onlooker will Life any more than Fairy-land open its secret. A +man must become an actor before he can be a true spectator. + +Weary of standing at the window, he went and wandered about the +streets. To his country-bred eyes they were full of marvels--which +would soon be as common to those eyes as one of the furrowed fields on +his father's farm. The youth who thinks the world his oyster, and opens +it forthwith, finds no pearl therein. + +What is this _nimbus_ about the new? Is the marvel a mockery? Is the +shine that of demon-gold? No. It is a winged glory that alights beside +the youth; and, having gathered his eyes to itself, flits away to a +further perch; there alights, there shines, thither entices. With +outstretched hands the child of earth follows, to fall weeping at the +foot of the gray disenchanted thing. But beyond, and again beyond, +shines the lapwing of heaven--not, as a faithless generation thinks, to +delude like them, but to lead the seeker home to the nest of the glory. + +Last of all, Alec was forced to take refuge in his books. + +_The competition_ fell on the next day, and he gained a small bursary. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + + +As it happened, no one but Alec had come up from Glamerton that year. +He did not know one of his fellow-students. There were very few in the +first class indeed who had had any previous acquaintance with each +other. But before three days were over like had begun to draw to like, +and opposites to their natural opposites. These mutual attractions, +however, were considerably influenced by the social sphere, as +indicated by style of dress, speech, and manners, in which each had +been accustomed to move. Some of the youths were of the lowliest +origin-�the sons of ploughmen and small country shopkeepers; +shock-headed lads, with much of the looks and manners of year-old +bullocks, mostly with freckled faces and a certain general +irresponsiveness of feature, soon to vanish as the mental and nervous +motions became more frequent and rapid, working the stiff clay of their +faces into a readier obedience to the indwelling plasticity. Some, on +the other hand, showed themselves at once the aristocracy of the class, +by their carriage and social qualifications or assumptions. These were +not generally the best scholars; but they set the fashion in the cut of +their coats, and especially in the style of their neckerchiefs. Most of +them were of Highland families; some of them jolly, hearty fellows; +others affected and presumptuous, evidently considering it beneath them +to associate with the multitude. + +Alec belonged to a middle class. Well-dressed, he yet knew that his +clothes had a country air, and that beside some of the men he cut a +poor figure in more than in this particular. For a certain superiority +of manner distinguished them, indicating that they had been accustomed +to more of the outward refinements of life than he. Now let Alec once +feel that a man was wiser and better than himself, and he was +straightway incapable of envying him any additional superiority +possible--would, in a word, be perfectly willing that he should both +wear a better coat and be a better scholar than himself. But to any one +who did not possess the higher kind of superiority, he foolishly and +enviously grudged the lower kinds of pre-eminence. To understand this +it must be remembered, that as yet he had deduced for himself no +principles of action or feeling: he was only a boy well-made, with +little goodness that he had in any way verified for himself. + +On the second day after the commencement of lectures, it was made known +to the first class that the Magistrand (fourth-class) Debating Society +would meet that evening. The meetings of this society, although under +the control of the magistrands, were open, upon equal terms in most +other respects, to the members of the inferior classes. They were held +in the Natural Philosophy class-room, at seven o'clock in the evening; +and to the first meeting of the session Alec went with no little +curiosity and expectation. + +It was already dark when he set out from his lodgings in the new town, +for the gateway beneath the tower with that crown of stone which is the +glory of the ancient borough gathered beneath it. Through narrow +crooked streets, with many dark courts on each side, he came to the +open road which connected the two towns. It was a starry night, dusky +rather than dark, and full of the long sound of the distant sea-waves +falling on the shore beyond the _links_. He was striding along +whistling, and thinking about as nearly nothing as might be, when the +figure of a man, whose footsteps he had heard coming through the gloom, +suddenly darkened before him and stopped. It was a little spare, +slouching figure, but what the face was like, he could not see. + +"Whustlin'?" said the man, interrogatively. + +"Ay; what for no?" answered Alec cheerily. + +"Haud yer een aff o' rainbows, or ye'll brak' yer shins upo' +gravestanes," said the man, and went on, with a shuffling gait, his +eyes flashing on Alec, from under projecting brows, as he passed. + +Alec concluded him drunk, although drink would not altogether account +for the strangeness of the address, and soon forgot him. The arch +echoed to his feet as he entered the dark quadrangle, across which a +glimmer in the opposite tower guided him to the stairs leading up to +the place of meeting. He found the large room lighted by a chandelier, +and one of the students seated as president in the professor's chair, +while the benches were occupied by about two hundred students, most of +the freshmen or _bejans_ in their red gowns. + +Various preliminary matters were discussed with an energy of utterance, +and a fitness of speech, which would have put to shame the general +elocution of both the pulpit and the bar. At length, however, a certain +_semi_ (second-classman, or more popularly _sheep_) stood up to give +his opinion on some subject in dispute, and attempting to speak too +soon after his dinner, for he was one of the more fashionable order, +hemmed and stammered till the weariness of the assembly burst upon him +in a perfect torrent of hisses and other animal exclamations. Among the +loudest in this inarticulate protestation, were some of the red-gowned +bejans, and the speaker kindled with wrath at the presumption of the +yellow-beaks (becs jaunes: bejans), till, indignation bursting open the +barriers of utterance, he poured forth a torrent of sarcastic contempt +on the young clod-hoppers, who, having just come from herding their +fathers' cows, could express their feelings in no more suitable +language than that of the bovine animals which had been their principal +and fit associates. As he sat down, his eyes rested with withering +scorn upon Alec Forbes, who instantly started to his feet amidst a +confusion of plaudits and hisses, but, finding it absolutely impossible +to speak so as to be heard, contented himself with uttering a sonorous +_ba-a-a-a_, and instant dropped into his seat, all the other outcries +dissolving in shouts of laughter. In a moment he received a candle full +in the face; its companions went flying in all directions, and the room +was in utter darkness. A scramble for the door followed; and amidst +struggling, shouting, and swearing, the whole company rolled down the +stair into the quadrangle, most of them without their caps, and some +with their new gowns torn from bottom to top. The night was hideous +with the uproar. In the descent, Alec received a blow on the head which +half stunned him; but he did not imagine that its severity was other +than an accident of the crush. He made the best of his way home, and +went to bed. + +After this he was popular; and after this, as often as Patrick +Beauchamp and he passed each other in walking up and down the arcade, +Beauchamp's high curved upper lip would curve yet higher, and Alec +would feel with annoyance that he could not sustain the glance of his +gray eyes. + +Beauchamp was no great favourite even in his own set; for there is one +kind of religion in which the more devoted a man is, the fewer +proselytes he makes: the worship of himself. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + + +One morning, about two months from the beginning of the session, after +the students had been reading for some time in the Greek class, the +professor was seen, not unexpectedly to part of the assembly, to look +up at the ceiling with sudden discomposure. There had been a heavy fall +of snow in the night, and one of the students, whose organ of humour +had gained at the expense of that of veneration, had, before the +arrival of the professor, gathered a ball of the snow, and thrown it +against the ceiling with such forceful precision, that it stuck right +over the centre of the chair. This was perhaps the first time that such +a trick had been dared in the first class, belonging more properly to +the advanced depravity of the second or third. When the air began to +get warm, the snow began to drop upon the head of the old professor; +and this was the cause of his troubled glance at the ceiling. But the +moment he looked up, Alec, seeing what was the matter, and feeling all +his natural loyalty roused, sprang from his seat, and rushing out of +the class-room, returned with a long broom which the sacrist had been +using to clear foot-paths across the quadrangle. The professor left his +chair, and Alec springing on the desk, swept the snow from the ceiling. +He then wiped the seat with his handkerchief and returned to his place. +The gratitude of the old man shone in his eyes. True, he would only +have had to send for the sacrist to rescue him; but here was an +atonement for the insult, offered by one of the students themselves. + +"Thank you, Mr Forbes," he stammered; "I am ek�ek�ek--exceedingly +obliged to you." + +The professor was a curious, kindly little man--lame, with a brown wig, +a wrinkled face, and a long mouth, of which he only made use of the +half on the right side to stammer out humorous and often witty +sayings--at least so they appeared to those who had grace enough to +respect his position and his age. As often as reference is made in my +hearing to Charles Lamb and his stutter, up comes the face of dear old +Professor Fraser, and I hear him once more stammering out some joke, +the very fun of which had its source in kindliness. Somehow the stutter +never interfered with the point of the joke: that always came with a +rush. He seemed, while hesitating on some unimportant syllable, to be +arranging what was to follow and strike the blow. + +"Gentlemen," he continued upon this occasion, "the Scripture says +you're to heap c-c-c-coals of fire on your enemy's head. When you are +to heap drops of water on your friend's w-w-wig, the Scripture doesn't +say." + +The same evening Alec received a note from him asking him to breakfast +with him the following morning, which was Saturday, and consequently a +holiday. It was usual with the professors to invite a dozen or so of +the students to breakfast on Saturdays, but on this occasion Alec was +the sole guest. + +As soon as he entered the room, Mr Fraser hobbled to meet him, with +outstretched hand of welcome, and a kindly grin on his face. + +"Mr Forbes," he said, "I h-h-hope well of you; for you can respect an +old man. I'm very glad to see you. I hope you've brought an appetite +with you. Sit down. Always respect old age, Mr Forbes. You'll be old +yourself some day--and you won't like it any more than I do. I've had +my young days, though, and I mustn't grumble." + +And here he smiled; but it was a sad smile, and a tear gathered in the +corner of one of his old eyes. He caught up a globular silver tea-pot, +and began to fill the tea-cups. Apparently the reflection of his own +face in the tea-pot was too comical to resist, for the old man +presently broke into what was half a laugh and half a grin, and, +without in any way accounting for it, went on talking quite merrily for +the rest of the meal. + +"My mother told me," said Alec at length, "in a letter I had from her +yesterday, that your brother, sir, had married a cousin of hers." + +"What! what! Are you a son of Mr Forbes of Howglen?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"You young rascal! Why didn't your mother send you to me?" + +"She didn't like to trouble you, I suppose, sir." + +"People like me, that haven't any relations, must make the most of the +relations they have. I am in no danger of being troubled that way. +You've heard of my poor brother's death?" + +"No, sir." + +"He died last year. He was a clergyman, you know. When you come up next +session, I hope to show you his daughter--your cousin, you know. She is +coming to live with me. People that don't marry don't deserve to have +children. But I'm going to have one after all. She's at school now. +What do you think of turning to, Mr Forbes?" + +"I haven't thought much about it yet, sir." + +"Ah! I daresay not. If I were you, I would be a doctor. If you're +honest, you're sure to do some good. I think you're just the man for a +doctor now--you respect your fellow-men. You don't laugh at old age, Mr +Forbes." + +And so the kind garrulous old man went on, talking about everything +except Greek. For that he had no enthusiasm. Indeed, he did not know +enough to have, by possibility, any feeling about it. What he did know, +however, he taught well, and very conscientiously. + +This was the first time that Alec's thoughts had been turned towards a +profession. The more he thought about it the better he liked the idea +of being a doctor; till at length, after one or two talks about it with +Mr Fraser, he resolved, notwithstanding that the session was +considerably advanced, to attend the anatomical course for the rest of +it. The Greek and Latin were tolerably easy to him, and it would be so +much time gained if he entered the first medical class at once. He need +not stand the examination except he liked, and the fee was not by any +means large. His mother was more than satisfied with the proposal, and, +although what seemed a trifle to Alec was of some consequence to her, +she sent him at once the necessary supplies. Mr Fraser smoothed the way +for him with the professor, and he was soon busy making up his distance +by a close study of the class-books. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + + +The first day of his attendance in the dissecting-room was a memorable +one, and had memorable consequences. He had considerable misgivings +about the new experience he had to meet, and sought, by the +concentration of his will, to prepare himself to encounter the +inevitable with calmness, and, if possible, with seeming indifference. +But he was not prepared after all for the disadvantage of entering a +company already hardened to those peculiarities of the position for +which a certain induration is as desirable as unavoidable. + +When he entered the room, he found a group already gathered. He drew +timidly towards the table on the other side, not daring to glance at +something which lay upon it--"white with the whiteness of what is +dead;" and, feeling as if all the men were looking at him, as indeed +most of them were, kept staring, or trying to stare, at other things in +the room. But all at once, from an irresistible impulse, he faced +round, and looked at the table. + +There lay the body of a woman, with a young sad face, beautiful in +spite of a terrible scar on the forehead, which indicated too plainly +with what brutal companions she had consorted. Alec's lip quivered, and +his throat swelled with a painful sensation of choking. He turned away, +and bit his lip hard to keep down his emotion. + +The best quality he possessed was an entire and profound reverence for +women. Indignation even was almost quelled in the shock he received, +when one of the students, for the pleasure of sneering at his +discomposure, and making a boast of his own superiority to such +weakness, uttered a brutal jest. In vain the upturned face made its +white appeal to the universe: a laugh billowed the silence about its +head. + +But no rudeness could hurt that motionless heart--no insult bring a +blush on that pale face. The closed eyes, the abandoned hands seemed +only to pray: + +"Let me into the dark--out of the eyes of those men!" + +Alec gave one sob in the vain effort to master the conflicting emotions +of indignation and pity. It reverberated in the laugh which burst from +the students of the healing art. Almost quenched in the laugh he heard +one word however, in the same voice which had made the jest--a voice he +knew well enough--that of Patrick Beauchamp. His face blazed up; his +eyes flashed; and he had made one step forward, when he was arrested by +the still face of the dead woman, which, ghostly as the morning moon, +returned no glow in the red sunlight of his wrath; and in reverence he +restrained his anger. In another moment, the professor arrived. + +During the lecture and accompanying demonstrations. Alec was deaf and +blind from burning rage; in the midst of which, however, he almost +forgot his own wrong in regarding that done to the dead. He became, in +his own eyes, the champion of one whom nature and death had united to +render defenceless. From the verge of a gulf more terrible than the +grave, her cry had reached him, and he would rise to avenge her. + +As soon as they came out, he walked up to Beauchamp. + +"You called me a spoony," he said through his set teeth. + +"I did," answered Beauchamp, with an admirable drawl of indifference. + +Alec replied with a blow; whereupon Beauchamp knocked him down. But he +was up in a moment; and, although his antagonist was both older and +bigger, the elasticity of his perfect health soon began to tell. There +was little science between them, and what there was lay on Beauchamp's +side; yet he defended himself more and more feebly, for his wind had +soon given way. At length, after receiving a terrible blow on the +mouth, Beauchamp dropped his arms and turned his back; and Alec, after +some hesitation, let him go without the parting kick which he was +tempted to give him, and which he had so well deserved. + +The men dispersed without remark, ashamed of themselves, and admiring +the bumpkin--most of them were gentlemen enough for that; while each of +the combatants retired unaccompanied to his own lodging--Alec with a +black eye, which soon passed through yellow back to its own natural +hue, and Beauchamp with a cut, the scar of which deepened the sneer on +his upper lip, and was long his evil counsellor from the confessional +of the mirror. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + + +The encounter fortunately took place upon a Friday, so that the +combatants had both Saturday and Sunday, with the deodand of a slight +fine for being absent from chapel, to recover appearances. Alec kept to +the house both days, and read hard at his medical and anatomical books. +His landlady took charge of his eye, and ministered to it with +assiduity and discretion, asking no questions, and courting no +confidences, only looking at him comically now and then out of gray +motherly eyes, that might have been trusted with the universe. She knew +the ways of students. In the course of one of the dressings, she said: + +"Ye'll be thinkin' lang (ennuy�), Mr Forbes, at haein' to bide i' the +hoose wi' that blackamoor ee o' yours. Hoo dinna ye gang up the stair +to Mr Cupples, and hae a lauch wi' him?" + +"I didna ken ye had onybody up the stair. Wha's Mr Cupples?" + +"Weel, he kens that best himsel! But he's a gey queer ane. He's a +terrible scholar though, fowk says--gran' at the Greek, and rael bonny +on the mathewmawtics. Only ye maunna be fleyt (frightened) at him." + +"I'm easy fleyt," said Alec, with a laugh. "But I wad like to see him." + +"Gang up, than, and chap at the garret door upo' yer left han'." + +"But what reason am I to gie him for disturbin' him?" asked Alec. + +"Ow nane ava. Jist tak' a moufu' o' Greek wi' ye to speir the richt +meanin' o', gin ye maun hae a rizzon." + +"That will do just first-rate," said Alec; "for here I have been +puzzling over a sentence for the last half hour with nobody but this +dim-sighted ghost of a Schrevelius to help me out with it. I'll go +directly. But I look such a blackguard with this game eye!" + +The landlady laughed. + +"You'll sune forget that whan ye see Mr Cupples." + +To the dismay of his nurse, Alec pulled the bandage off his eye, and +amidst her expostulations caught up his book, and rushing away, bounded +up the garret stairs, which ascended outside the door of the _flat_. At +the top, he found himself under the bare roof, with only boards and +slates between him and the clouds. The landing was lighted by a +skylight, across which diligent and undisturbed spiders had woven their +webs for years. He stood for a moment or two, puzzled as to which door +he ought to assail, for all the doors about looked like closet-doors, +leading into dingy recesses. At last, with the aid of his nose, he made +up his mind, and knocked. + +"Come in," cried a voice of peculiar tone. It reminded Alec of +something he could not at all identify, which was not wonderful, seeing +it was of itself, heard once before, that it reminded him. It was the +same voice which, as he walked to the debate, the first night, had +warned him not to look at rainbows. + +He opened the door and entered. + +"What do you want?" said the voice, its source almost invisible in the +thick fumes of genuine pigtail, through which it sent cross odours of +as genuine Glenlivat. + +"I want you to help me with a bit of Homer, if you please, Mr +Cupples-�I'm not up to Homer yet." + +"Do ye think I hae naething ither to do than to grin' the grandur o' an +auld haythen into spunemate for a young sinner like you?" + +"Ye dinna ken what I'm like, Mr Cupples," returned Alec, remembering +his landlady's injunction not to be afraid of him. + +"Come athort the reek, and lat's luik at ye." + +Alec obeyed, and found the speaker seated by the side of a little fire, +in an old easy-chair covered with horsehair; and while undergoing his +scrutiny, took his revenge in kind. Mr Cupples was a man who might have +been of almost any age from five-and-twenty to fifty--at least, Alec's +experience was insufficient for the task of determining to what decade +of human years he belonged. He was a little man, in a long black +tail-coat much too large, and dirty gray trousers. He had no +shirt-collar visible, although a loose rusty stock revealed the whole +of his brown neck. His hair, long, thin, fair, and yet a good deal +mingled with grey, straggled about over an uncommonly high forehead, +which had somehow the neglected and ruinous look of an old bare tower +no ivy had beautified. His ears stood far out from his great head. His +nose refuses to be described. His lips were plentiful and loose; his +chin was not worth mentioning; his eyes were rather large, beautifully +formed, bright, and blue. His hand, small, delicately shaped, and +dirty, grasped, all the time he was examining Alec, a tumbler of +steaming toddy; while his feet, in list slippers of different colours, +balanced themselves upon the fender[.] + +"You've been fighting, you young rascal!" said Mr Cupples, in a tone of +authority, the moment he had satisfied himself about Alec's +countenance. "That won't do. It's not respectable." + +And he gave the queerest unintelligible grin. + +Alec found himself strangely attracted to him, and impelled--a feeling +not unfrequent with him--to tell the truth, the whole truth, and +nothing but the truth. + +"The world itself isn't the most respectable planet in the system, Mr +Cupples," said he; "and no honest inhabitant of it can be always +respectable either." + +Mr Cupples chuckled and laughed groggily, muttering somewhere in his +chest-- + +"You young dog! there's stuff in you!" Then composing himself a little, +he said aloud: "Tell me all about it directly." + +Alec obeyed, and, not without emotion, gave Mr Cupples the whole +history of the affair. + +"Damn you!" remarked Mr Cupples in a husky voice, as he held out a +trembling hand to Alec, "you're one of the right sort. I'll do anything +for you I can. Where's your Homer?" + +So saying, he rose with care and went towards a cupboard in the corner. +His pipe had been so far interrupted during their conversation, that +Alec was now able, by the light of the tallow candle, to see the little +garret room, with its ceiling on one side sloping nearly to the floor, +its walls begrimed with smoke, and the bare plaster covered with +grotesque pencil-drawings--caricatures of Homeric heroes in the guise +of schoolboys, polemic clergymen of the city in the garb of fish-wives +militant, and such like. A bed and a small chest of drawers stood under +the slope of the roof, and the rest of the room was occupied by a +painted table covered with papers, and a chair or two. An old +broadsword leaned against the wall in a corner. A half-open cupboard +revealed bottles, glasses, and a dry-looking cheese. To the +corresponding cupboard, on the other side of the fire, which had lost a +corner by the descent of the roof, Mr Cupples now dragged his slippers, +feeling in his waistcoat pocket, as he went, for the key.--There was +another door still, partly sunk in the slope of the ceiling. + +When he opened the cupboard, a dusky glimmer of splendid bindings +filling the whole recess, shone out upon the dingy room. From a shelf +he took a volume of Homer, bound in vellum, with red edges--a copy of +far greater value than Alec had knowledge of books to understand--and +closing the door again, resumed his seat in the easy-chair. Having +found the passage, he read it through aloud in a manner which made +Homer for the first time sound like poetry in Alec's ears, and almost +revealed the hidden significance. Then pouncing at once upon the +shadowy word which was the key to the whole, he laid open the +construction and meaning in one sentence of explanation. + +"Thank you! thank you!" exclaimed Alec. "I see it all now as plain as +English." + +"Stop, stop, my young bantam!" said Mr Cupples. "Don't think you're +going to break into my privacy and get off with the booty so cheaply. +Just you construe the whole sentence to me." + +Alec did so tolerably well; for the passage was only an easy extract, +the class not having reached Homer yet. Mr Cupples put several +questions to him, which gave him more insight into Greek than a week's +work in the class would have done, and ended with a small lecture +suggested by the passage, drinking away at his toddy all the time. The +lecture and the toddy ended together. Turning his head aside, where it +lay back in the horse-hair chair, he said sleepily: + +"Go away--I don't know your name.--Come and see me to-morrow night. I'm +drunk now." + +Alec rose, made some attempt at thanks, received no syllable of reply, +and went out, closing the door behind him, and leaving Mr Cupples to +his dreams. + +His countenance had not made much approximation to respectability +before the Monday. He therefore kept it as well as he could out of Mr +Fraser's sight, to whom he did not wish to give explanations to the +prejudice of any of his fellow-students. Mr Fraser, however, saw his +black eye well enough, but was too discreet to ask questions, and +appeared quite unaware of the transitory blemish. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + + +Meantime, at Glamerton the winter passed very much like former winters +to all but three--Mrs Forbes, Annie Anderson, and Willie Macwha. To +these the loss of Alec was dreary. So they were in a manner compelled +to draw closer together. At school, Curly assumed the protectorship of +Annie which had naturally devolved upon him, although there was now +comparatively little occasion for its exercise; and Mrs Forbes, finding +herself lonely in her parlour during the long _forenights_, got into +the habit of sending Mary at least three times a week to fetch her. +This was not agreeable to the Bruce, but the kingly inheritor abode his +hour; and Mrs Forbes had no notion of the amount of offence she gave by +doing so. + +That parlour at Howglen was to Annie a little heaven hollowed out of +the winter. The warm curtains drawn, and the fire blazing +defiantly,--the angel with the flaming sword to protect their Paradise +from the frost, it was indeed a contrast to the sordid shop, and the +rat-haunted garret. + +After tea they took it in turns to work and to read. Mrs Forbes had +never sought to satisfy the religious public as to the state of her +mind, and so had never been led astray into making frantic efforts to +rouse her own feelings; which is, in fact, to apply to them the hottest +searing iron of all, next to that of sin. Hence her emotional touch +remained delicate, and what she could understand she could feel. The +good books she liked best were stories of the Scotch Covenanters and +Worthies, whose example, however much of stiff-neckedness may have +mingled with their devotion, was yet the best that Annie could have, +inasmuch as they were simply martyrs--men who would not say _yes_ when +they ought to say _no_. Nor was Mrs Forbes too religious to enjoy the +representation given of these Covenanters in _Old Mortality_. Her +feelings found nothing repulsive in the book, although she never +discovered the reason in the fact that Sir Walter's feelings were the +same as her own, whatever his opinions might be, and had given the +chief colour and tone to the representation of his characters. There +were more books in the house than was usual even in that of a +_gentleman farmer_; and several of Sir Walter's novels, besides some +travels, and a little Scotch history, were read between them that +winter. In poetry, Annie had to forage for herself. Mrs Forbes could +lend her no guiding hand in that direction. + +The bond between them grew stronger every day. Annie was to Mrs Forbes +an outlet for her maternity, which could never have outlet enough +without a girl as well as a boy to love; and Annie, in consequence, was +surrounded by numberless holy influences, which, operating in a time +when she was growing fast, had their full effect upon mind and body +both. In a condition of rapid change, the mass is more yielding and +responsive. One result in her was, that a certain sober grace, like +that of the lovely dull-feathered hen-birds, began to manifest itself +in her carriage and her ways. And this leads me to remark that her +outward and visible feathers would have been dull enough had not Mrs +Forbes come to her aid with dresses of her own, which they remade +between them; for it will easily be believed that no avoidable outlay +remained unavoided by the Bruces. Indeed, but for the feeling that she +must be decent on Sundays, they would have let her go yet shabbier than +she was when Mrs Forbes thus partially adopted her. Now that she was +warmly and neatly dressed, she began to feel and look more like the +lady-child she really was. No doubt the contrast was very painful when +she returned from Mrs Forbes's warm parlour to sleep in her own garret, +with the snow on the roof, scanty clothing on the bed, and the rats in +the floor. But there are two sides to a contrast; and it is wonderful +also how one gets through what one cannot get out of. + +A certain change in the Bruce-habits, leading to important results for +Annie, must now be recorded. + +Robert Bruce was making money, but not so fast as he wished. For his +returns came only in small sums, although the profits were great. His +customers were chiefly of the poorer classes of the town and the +neighbourhood, who preferred his unpretending shop to the more showy +establishments of some of his rivals. A sort of _couthy_, _pauky_, +confidentially flattering way that he had with them, pleased them, and +contributed greatly to keep them true to his counter. And as he knew +how to buy as well as how to sell, the poor people, if they had not the +worth of their money, had at least what was good of its sort. But, as I +have said, although he was making haste to be rich, he was not +succeeding fast enough. So he bethought him that the Missionar Kirk was +getting "verra throng." + +A month or two before this time, the Missionars had made choice of a +very able man for their pastor--a man of genuine and strong religious +feeling, who did not allow his theology to interfere with the teaching +given him by God's Spirit more than he could help, and who, if he had +been capable of making a party at all, would have made it with the poor +against the rich. This man had gathered about him a large congregation +of the lower classes of Glamerton; and Bruce had learned with some +uneasiness that a considerable portion of his customers was to be found +in the Missionar Kirk on Sundays, especially in the evenings. For there +was a grocer amongst the Missionars, who, he feared, might draw some of +his subjects away from their allegiance, seeing he must have a certain +religious influence of which Robert was void, to bring to bear upon +them. What therefore remained but that he too should join the +congregation? For then he would not only retain the old, but have a +chance of gaining new customers as well. So he took a week to think +about it, a Sunday to hear Mr Turnbull in order that the change might +not seem too abrupt, and a pew under the gallery before the next Sunday +arrived; in which, five minutes before the hour, he and his family were +seated, adding greatly to the consequence both of the place and of +himself in the eyes of his Missionar customers. + +This change was a source of much pleasure to Annie. For although she +found the service more wearisome than good Mr Cowie's, lasting as it +did about three quarters of an hour longer and the sermon was not +invariably of a kind in which she could feel much interest, yet, +occasionally, when Mr Turnbull was in his better moods, and testified +of that which he had himself seen and known, the honest heart of the +maiden recognized the truth, and listened absorbed. The young Bruces, +for their parts, would gladly have gone to sleep, which would perhaps +have been the most profitable use to which they could put the time; but +they were kept upright and in a measure awake, by the constant +application, "spikewise," of the paternal elbow, and the judicious +administration, on the part of the mother, of the unfailing peppermint +lozenges, to which in the process of ages a certain sabbatical +character has attached itself. To Annie, however, no such ministration +extended, for it would have been downright waste, seeing she could keep +awake without it. + +One bright frosty morning, the sermon happening to have no relation to +the light around or within them, but only to the covenant made with +Abraham--such a legal document constituting the only reliable +protection against the character, inclinations, and duties of the +Almighty, whose uncovenanted mercies are of a very doubtful +nature--Annie, neither able to enter into the subject, nor to keep from +shivering with the cold, tried to amuse herself with gazing at one +brilliant sun-streak on the wall, which she had discovered to be +gradually shortening itself, and retreating towards the window by which +it had entered. Wondering how far it would have moved before the sermon +was over, and whether it would have shone so very bright if God had +made no covenant with Abraham, she was earnestly watching it pass from +spot to spot, and from cobweb to cobweb, as if already it fled before +the coming darkness of the long winter night, when she caught a glimpse +of a very peculiar countenance turned in the same direction--that is, +not towards the minister, but towards this travelling light. She +thought the woman was watching it as well as she, and wondered whether +she too was hoping for a plate of hot broth as soon as the sunbeam had +gone a certain distance--broth being the Sunday fare with the +Bruces--and, I presume, with most families in Scotland. The countenance +was very plain, seamed and scarred as if the woman had fallen into the +fire when a child; and Annie had not looked at her two seconds, before +she saw that she was perfectly blind. Indeed she thought at first that +she had no eyes at all; but as she kept gazing, fascinated with the +strangeness and ugliness of the face, she discovered that the eyelids, +though incapable of separating, were inconstant motion, and that a +shrunken eye-ball underneath each kept rolling and turning ever, as if +searching for something it could not find. She saw too that there was a +light on the face, a light which came neither from the sun in the sky, +nor the sunbeam on the wall, towards which it was unconsciously turned. +I think it must have been the heavenly bow itself, shining upon all +human clouds--a bow that had shone for thousands of ages before ever +there was an Abraham, or a Noah, or any other of our faithless +generation, which will not trust its God unless he swear that he will +not destroy them. It was the ugliest face. But over it, as over the +rugged channel of a sea, flowed the transparent waves of a heavenly +delight. + +When the service was over, almost before the words of the benediction +had left the minister's lips, the people, according to Scotch habit, +hurried out of the chapel, as if they could not possibly endure one +word more. But Annie, who was always put up to the top of the pew, +because there, by reason of an intruding pillar, it required a painful +twist of the neck to see the minister, stood staring at the blind woman +as she felt her way out of the chapel. There was no fear of putting her +out by staring at her. When, at length, she followed her into the open +air, she found her standing by the door, turning her sightless face on +all sides, as if looking for some one and trying hard to open her eyes +that she might see better. Annie watched her, till, seeing her lips +move, she knew, half by instinct, that she was murmuring, "The bairn's +forgotten me!" Thereupon she glided up to her and said gently: + +"If ye'll tell me whaur ye bide, I s' tak ye hame." + +"What do they ca' _you_, bairn?" returned the blind woman, in a gruff, +almost manlike voice, hardly less unpleasant to hear than her face was +to look at. + +"Annie Anderson," answered Annie. + +"Ow, ay! I thoucht as muckle. I ken a' aboot ye. Gie's a haud o' yer +han'. I bide i' that wee hoosie down at the brig, atween the dam and +the Glamour, ye ken. Ye'll haud me aff o' the stanes?" + +"Ay will I." answered Annie confidently. + +"I could gang my lane, but I'm growin some auld noo, and I'm jist +raither feared for fa'in'." + +"What garred ye think it was me--I never spak till ye afore?" asked +Annie, as they walked on together. + +"Weel, it's jist half guissin', an' half a kin' o' jeedgment--pittin +things thegither, ye ken, my bairn. Ye see, I kent a' the bairns that +come to oor kirk weel eneuch already. I ken the word and amaist the fit +o' them. And I had heard tell 'at Maister Bruce was come to oor kirk. +Sae when a lassie spak till me 'at I never saw afore, I jist a kin' o' +kent 'at it bude to be yersel'." + +All this was spoken in the same harsh voice, full of jars, as if ever +driving against corners, and ready to break into a hoarse whisper. But +the woman held Annie's hand kindly, and yielded like a child to her +guidance which was as careful as that of the angel that led Peter. + +It was a new delight to Annie to have some one to whom she a child +could be a kind of mother, towards whom she could fulfil a woman's +highest calling--that of _ministering unto_; and it was with something +of a sacred pride that she led her safe home, through the snowy +streets, and down the steep path that led from the level of the bridge, +with its three high stone arches, to the little meadow where her +cottage stood. Before they reached it, the blind woman, whose name was +Tibbie (Isobel) Dyster, had put many questions to her, and without +asking one indiscreet, had yet, by her gift for fitting and fusing +things in the retort of her own brain, come to a tolerably correct +knowledge of her character, circumstances, and history. + +As soon as they entered the cottage, Tibbie was entirely at her ease. +The first thing she did was to lift the kettle from the fire, and feel +the fire with her hands in order to find out in what condition it was. +She would not allow Annie to touch it: she could not trust the creature +that had nothing but eyes to guide her, with such a delicate affair. +Her very hands looked blind and trying to see, as, with fine up-curved +tips, they went wandering over the tops of the live peats. She +re-arranged them, put on some fresh pieces, blew a little at them all +astray and to no purpose, was satisfied, coughed, and sank upon a +chair, to put her bonnet off. Most women of her station wore only a +_mutch_ or close cap, but Tibbie wore a bonnet with a brilliantly gay +ribbon, so fond was she of bright colours, although she had nothing but +the testimony of others, vague enough ere it succeeded in crossing the +dark distances of her brain, as to the effect of those even with which +she adorned her own person. Her room was very bare, but as clean as it +was possible for room to be. Her bed was in the wall which divided it +from the rest of the house, and this one room was her whole habitation. +The other half of the cottage was occupied by an old cripple, nearly +bedridden, to whose many necessities Tibbie used to minister. The eyes +of the one and the legs of the other worked in tolerable harmony; and +if they had a quarrel now and then, it was no greater than gave a zest +to their intercourse. These particulars, however, Annie did not learn +till afterwards. + +She looked all about the room, and seeing no sign of any dinner for +Tibbie, was reminded thereby that her own chance had considerably +diminished. + +"I maun awa hame," she said with a sigh. + +"Ay, lassie; they'll be bidin' their denner for ye." + +"Na, nae fear o' that," answered Annie, adding with another little +sigh, "I doot there winna be muckle o' the broth to the fore or I win +hame." + +"Weel jist bide, bairn, an' tak' a cup o' tay wi' me. It's a' 'at I hae +to offer ye. Will ye bide?" + +"Maybe I wad be i' yer gait," objected Annie feebly. + +"Na, na; nae fear o' that. Ye'll read a bit to me efterhin." + +"Ay will I." + +And Annie stayed all the afternoon with Tibbie, and went home with the +Bruces after the evening service. This was the beginning of her +acquaintance with Tibbie Dyster. + +It soon grew into a custom for Annie to take Tibbie home from the +chapel--a custom which the Bruces could hardly have objected to, had +they been so inclined. But they were not so inclined, for it saved the +broth--that is, each of them got a little more in consequence, and +Annie's absence was therefore a Sabbath blessing. + +Much as she was neglected at home, however, Annie was steadily gaining +a good reputation in the town. Old men said she was a gude bairn, and +old women said she was a douce lassie; while those who enjoyed finding +fault more than giving praise, turned their silent approbation of Annie +into expressions of disapproval of the Bruces--"lattin' her gang like a +beggar, as gin she was no kith or kin o' theirs, whan it's weel kent +whase heifer Rob Bruce is plooin' wi'." + +But Robert nevertheless grew and prospered all day, and dreamed at +night that he was the king, digging the pits for the English cavalry, +and covering them again with the treacherous turf. Somehow the dream +never went further. The field and the kingship would vanish and he only +remain, the same Robert Bruce, the general dealer, plotting still, but +in his own shop. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + + +Responsive to Mr Cupples's last words uttered from the brink of the pit +into which his spirit was sinking, and probably forgotten straightway, +Alec knocked at his door upon the Sunday evening, and entered. The +strange creature was sitting in the same position as before, looking as +if he had not risen since he spoke those words. But there was an +alteration in the place, a certain Sunday look about the room, which +Alec could not account for. The same caricatures jested from the walls; +the same tumbler of toddy was steaming on the table amidst the same +litter of books and papers covered with the same dust and marked with +the same circles from the bottoms of wet tumblers and glasses. The same +cutty-clay, of enviable blackness, reposed between the teeth of Mr +Cupples. + +After he had been seated for a few moments, however, Alec all at once +discovered the source of the reformation-look of the place: Mr Cupples +had on a shirt-collar--clean and of imposing proportions. To this no +doubt was attached a shirt, but as there was no further sign of its +presence, it could not have affected the aspect of things. Although, +however, this shirt-collar was no doubt the chief cause of the change +of expression in the room, Alec, in the course of the evening, +discovered further signs of improvement in the local morals; one, that +the hearth had been cleared of a great heap of ashes, and now looked +modest and moderate as if belonging to an old maid's cottage, instead +of an old bachelor's garret; and another, that, upon the untidy table, +lay an open book of divinity, a volume of Gurnall's _Christian Armour_ +namely, which I fear Mr Cupples had chosen more for its wit than its +devotion. While making these discoveries, Alec chanced to observe--he +was quick-eyed--that some of the dusty papers on the table were +scrawled over with the first amorphous appearance of metrical +composition. These moved his curiosity; for what kind of poetry could +the most unpoetic-looking Mr Cupples produce from that great head of +his with the lanky colourless hair?--But meantime we must return to the +commencement of the interview. + +"Ony mair Greek, laddie?" asked Mr Cupples. + +"No, thank you, sir," answered Alec. "I only came to see you. You told +me to come again to-night." + +"Did I? Well, it may stand. But I protest against being made +accountable for anything that fellow Cupples may choose to say when I'm +not at home." + +Here he emptied his glass of toddy, and filled it again from the +tumbler. + +"Shall I go away?" asked Alec, half bewildered. + +"No, no; sit still. You're a good sort of innocent, I think. I won't +give you any toddy though. You needn't look so greedy at it." + +"I don't want any toddy, sir. I never drank a tumbler in my life." + +"For God's sake," exclaimed Mr Cupples, with sudden energy, leaning +forward in his chair, his blue eyes flashing on Alec--"for God's sake, +never drink a drop.--Rainbows. Rainbows." + +These last two words were spoken after a pause, and in a tone of +sadness. Alec thought he was drunk again, and half rose to go. + +"Dinna gang yet," said Mr Cupples, authoritatively. "Ye come at yer ain +will: ye maun gang at mine.--Gin I cud but get a kick at that fellow +Cupples! But I declare I canna help it. Gin I war God, I wad cure him +o' drink. It's the verra first thing I wad do." + +Alec could not help being shocked at the irreverence of the words. But +the solemnity of Mr Cupples's face speedily dissipated the feeling. +Suddenly changing his tone, he went on: + +"What's your name?" + +"Alec Forbes." + +"Alec Forbes. I'll try to remember it. I seldom remember anybody's +name, though. I sometimes forget my own. What was the fellow's name you +thrashed the other day?" + +"Patrick Beauchamp. I did not mention it before." + +"The deevil it was!" exclaimed Mr Cupples, half-starting from his seat. +"Did ye gie him a _richt_ thrashin'?" + +"I think he had the worst of it. He gave in, any way." + +"He comes of a bad lot! I know all about them. They're from Strathspey, +where my father came from--at least his father was. If the young fellow +turns out well, it'll be a wonder. I'll tell you all about them." + +Mr Cupples here launched into a somewhat discursive account of Patrick +Beauchamp's antecedents, indicating by its minuteness that there must +have been personal relations of some kind between them or their +families. Perhaps he glanced at something of the sort when he said that +old Beauchamp was a hard man even for a lawyer. I will condense the +story from the more diffuse conversational narrative, interrupted by +question and remark on the part of Alec, and give it the shape of +formal history. + +Beauchamp's mother was the daughter of a Highland chief, whose pedigree +went back to an Irish king of date so remote that his existence was +doubtful to every one not personally interested in the extraction. Mrs +Beauchamp had all the fierceness without much of the grace belonging to +the Celtic nature. Her pride of family, even, had not prevented her +from revenging herself upon her father, who had offended her, by +running away with a handsome W.S., who, taken with her good looks, and +flattered by the notion of overcoming her pride, had found a +conjunction of circumstances favourable to the conquest. It was not +long, however, before both repented of the step. That her father should +disown her was not of much consequence in any point of view, but that +nobody in Edinburgh would admit her claims to distinction--which arose +from the fact that they were so unpleasantly asserted that no one could +endure herself--did disgust her considerably; and her annoyance found +vent in abuse of her husband for having failed to place her in the +sphere to which she had a just claim. The consequence was, that he +neglected her; and she sat at home brooding over her wrongs, despising +and at length hating her husband, and meditating plans of revenge as +soon as her child should be born. At length, within three months after +the birth of Patrick, she found that he was unfaithful to her, and +immediately demanded a separate maintenance. To this her husband made +no further objection than policy required. But when she proceeded to +impose an oath upon him that he would never take her child from her, +the heart of the father demurred. Whereupon she swore that, if ever he +made the attempt, she would poison the child rather than that he should +succeed. He turned pale as death, and she saw that she had gained her +point. And, indeed, the woman was capable of anything to which she had +made up her mind--a power over one's self and friends not desirable +except in view of such an object as that of _Lady Macbeth_. But Mrs +Beauchamp, like her, considered it only a becoming strength of spirit, +and would have despised herself if she had broken one resolution for +another indubitably better. So her husband bade her farewell, and made +no lamentation except over the probable result of such training as the +child must receive at the hands of such a mother. She withdrew to a +country town not far from the Moray Frith, where she might live +comfortably on her small income, be a person of some consideration, and +reap all the advantages of the peculiar facilities which the place +afforded for the education of her boy, whom she would mould and model +after her own heart. + +"So you see, Mr--I forget yer name--Forbes? yes, Forbes, if the rascal +takes after his mother, you have made a dangerous enemy," said Mr +Cupples, in conclusion. + +Alec laughed. + +"I advise you," resumed Mr Cupples, "to keep a gleg ee in yer heid, +though--seriously. A body may lauch ower aften. It winna do to gang +glowerin' at rainbows. They're bonnie things, but they're nae +brig-backs. Gin ye lippen to them, ye'll be i' the water in a +cat-loup." + +Alec was beginning to enter into the humour of the man. + +"I see something like poetry lying about the table, Mr Cupples," said +he, with a sly allusion to the _rainbows_. "Would you let me look at +it?" + +Mr Cupples glanced at him sharply; but replied immediately: + +"Broken bits o' them! And the rainbows cast (lose colour) awfu', ance +ye tak' the key-stane oot o' them. Lat them sit up there, brigs +(bridges) ower naething, wi' nae road upo' the tap o' them, like the +stane brig o' Drumdochart efter the spate (flood). Haud yer han's and +yer een aff o' them, as I tellt ye afore.--Ay, ay, ye can luik at thae +screeds gin ye like. Only dinna say a word to me aboot ony o' them. And +tak' warnin' by them yersel, never to write ae word o' poetry, to haud +ye frae rivin'." + +"Sma' fear o' that!" returned Alec, laughing. + +"Weel, I houp sae.--Ye can mak a kirk an' a mill o' them, gin ye like. +They hae lain there lang eneuch. Noo, haud yer tongue. I'm gaein to +fill my pipe again, afore I burn oot the dottle. I winna drink mair the +nicht, cause it's the Sabbath, and I'm gaein to read my buik." + +So saving, he proceeded to get the _dottle_ out of his pipe, by +knocking it on the hob; while Alec took up the paper that lay nearest. +He found it contained a fragment of a poem in the Scotch language; and, +searching amongst the rest of the scattered sheets, he soon got the +whole of it together. + +Now, although Alec had but little acquaintance with verse, he was able, +thanks to Annie Anderson, to enjoy a ballad very heartily; and there +was something in this one which, associating itself in his mind with +the strange being before him, moved him more than he could account for. +It was called + + TIME AND TIDE. + + As I was walkin' on the strand, + I spied an auld man sit + On ane auld rock; and aye the waves + Cam washin' to its fit. + And aye his lips gaed mutterin', + And his ee was dull and blae. + As I cam near, he luik'd at me, + But this was a' his say: + "Robbie and Jeannie war twa bonnie bairns, + And they played thegither upo' the shore: + Up cam the tide 'tween the mune and the sterns, + And pairtit the twa wi' an eerie roar." + + What can the auld man mean, quo' I, + Sittin' upo' the auld rock? + The tide creeps up wi' moan and cry, + And a hiss 'maist like a mock. + The words he mutters maun be the en' + O' a weary dreary sang-- + A deid thing floatin' in his brain, + That the tide will no lat gang. + "Robbie and Jeannie war twa bonnie bairns, + And they played thegither upo' the shore: + Up cam the tide 'tween the mune and the sterns, + And pairtit the twa wi' an eerie roar." + + What pairtit them, auld man? I said; + Did the tide come up ower strang? + 'Twas a braw deith for them that gaed, + Their troubles warna lang. + Or was ane ta'en, and the ither left-- + Ane to sing, ane to greet? + It's sair, richt sair, to be bereft, + But the tide is at yer feet. + "Robbie and Jeannie war twa bonnie bairns, + And they played thegither upo' the shore: + Up cam the tide 'tween the mune and the sterns, + And pairtit the twa wi' an eerie roar." + + Maybe, quo' I, 'twas Time's gray sea, + Whase droonin' 's waur to bide; + But Death's a diver, seekin' ye + Aneath its chokin' tide. + And ye'll luik in ane anither's ee + Triumphin' ower gray Time. + But never a word he answered me, + But ower wi' his dreary chime-- + "Robbie and Jeannie war twa bonnie bairns, + And they played thegither upo' the shore: + Up cam the tide 'tween the mune and the sterns, + And pairtit the twa wi' an eerie roar." + + Maybe, auld man, said I, 'twas Change + That crap atween the twa? + Hech! that's a droonin' awfu' strange, + Ane waur than ane and a'. + He spak nae mair. I luik't and saw + That the auld lips cudna gang. + The tide unseen took him awa-- + Left me to end his sang: + "Robbie and Jeannie war twa bonnie bairns, + And they played thegither upo' the shore: + Up cam the tide 'tween the mune and the sterns, + And tuik them whaur pairtin' shall be no more." + +Before he had finished reading, the refrain had become so familiar to +Alec, that he unconsciously murmured the last, changed as it was from +the preceding form, aloud. Mr Cupples looked up from Gurnall uneasily, +fidgeted in his chair, and said testily: + +"A' nonsense! Moonshine and rainbows! Haud yer tongue! The last line's +a' wrang." + +He then returned with a determined air to the consideration of his +_Christian Armour_, while Alec, in whom the minor tone of the poem had +greatly deepened the interest he felt in the writer, gazed at him in a +bewilderment like that one feels when his eyes refuse to take their +proper relation to the perspective before them. He could not get those +verses and Mr Cupples into harmony. Not daring to make any observation, +however, he sat with the last leaf still in his hand, and a reverential +stare upon his face, which at length produced a remarkable effect upon +the object of it. Suddenly lifting his eyes-- + +"What are ye glowerin' at me for?" he exclaimed, flinging his book from +him, which, missing the table, fell on the floor on the further side of +it. "I'm neither ghaist nor warlock. Damn ye! gang oot, gin ye be gaun +to stick me throu and throu wi' yer een, that gait." + +"I beg your pardon, Mr Cupples. I didn't mean to be rude," said Alec +humbly. + +"Weel, cut yer stick, I hae eneuch o' ye for ae nicht. I canna stan' +glowerin' een, especially i' the heids o' idiots o' innocents like +you." + +I am sorry to have to record what Alec learned from the landlady +afterwards, that Mr Cupples went to bed that night, notwithstanding it +was the Sabbath, more drunk than she had ever known him. Indeed he +could not properly be said to have gone to bed at all, for he had +tumbled on the counter-pane in his clothes and clean shirt-collar; +where she had found him fast asleep the next morning, with Gurnall's +_Christian Armour_ terribly crumpled under him. + +"But," said Alec, "what _is_ Mr Cupples?" + +"That's a queston he cudna weel answer ye himsel'," was the reply. "He +does a heap o' things; writes for the lawyers whiles; buys and sells +queer buiks; gies lessons in Greek and Hebrew--but he disna like +that--he canna bide to be contred, and laddies is gey contresome; helps +onybody that wants help i' the way o' figures--whan their buiks gang +wrang ye ken, for figures is some ill for jummlin'. He's a kin' o' +librarian at yer ain college i' the noo, Mr Forbes. The auld man's +deid, and Mr Cupples is jist doin' the wark. They winna gie him the +place--'cause he has an ill name for drink--but they'll get as muckle +wark oot o' him as gin they did, and for half the siller. The body +hauds at onythiug weel eneuch a' day, but the minute he comes hame, oot +comes the tappit hen, and he jist sits doon and drinks till he turns +the warl upo' the tap o' 'm." + +The next day, about noon, Alec went into the library, where he found Mr +Cupples busy re-arranging the books and the catalogue, both of which +had been neglected for years. This was the first of many visits to the +library, or rather to the librarian. + +There was a certain mazy sobriety of demeanour about Mr Cupples all day +long, as if in the presence of such serious things as books he was +bound to be upon his good behaviour, and confine his dissipation to +taking snuff in prodigious quantities. He was full of information about +books, and had, besides, opinions concerning them, which were always +ready to assume quaint and decided expression. For instance: one +afternoon, Alec having taken up _Tristram Shandy_ and asked him what +kind of a book it was, the pro-librarian snatched it from his hands and +put it on the shelf again, answering: + +"A pailace o' dirt and impidence and speeeritual stink. The clever +deevil had his entrails in his breest and his hert in his belly, and +regairdet neither God nor his ain mither. His lauchter's no like the +cracklin' o' thorns unner a pot, but like the nicherin' o' a deil ahin' +the wainscot. Lat him sit and rot there!" + +Asking him another day what sort of poet Shelley was, Alec received the +answer: + +"A bonny cratur, wi' mair thochts nor there was room for i' the bit +heid o' 'm. Consequently he gaed staiggerin' aboot as gin he had been +tied to the tail o' an inveesible balloon. Unco licht heidit, but no +muckle hairm in him by natur'." + +He never would remain in the library after the day began to ebb. The +moment he became aware that the first filmy shadow had fallen from the +coming twilight, he caught up his hat, locked the door, gave the key to +the sacrist, and hurried away. + +The friendly relation between the two struck its roots deeper and +deeper during the session, and Alec bade him good-bye with regret. + +Mr Cupples was a baffled poet trying to be a humourist--baffled--not by +the booksellers or the public--for such baffling one need not have a +profound sympathy--but baffled by his own weakness, his incapacity for +assimilating sorrow, his inability to find or invent a theory of the +universe which should show it still beautiful despite of passing pain, +of checked aspiration, of the ruthless storms that lay waste the Edens +of men, and dissolve the high triumph of their rainbows. He had yet to +learn that through "the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that +flesh is heir to," man becomes capable of the blessedness to which all +the legends of a golden age point. Not finding, when he most needed it, +such a theory even in the New Testament--for he had been diligently +taught to read it awry--Mr Cupples took to jesting and toddy; but, +haunting the doors of Humour, never got further than the lobby. + +With regard to Patrick Beauchamp, as far as Alec could see, his dignity +had succeeded in consoling itself for the humiliation it had undergone, +by an absolute and eternal renunciation of all knowledge of Alec +Forbes's existence. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + + +Winter had begun to withdraw his ghostly troops, and Glamerton began to +grow warmer. Not half so many cold feet dangled from the cold legs of +little children in the torturing churches; not half so many coughs tore +the chests of the poor old men and women as they stooped over their +little fires, with the blasts from door and window-sill in their ankles +and the backs of their necks. Annie, who had been very happy all the +time, began to be aware of something more at hand. A flutter scarcely +recognizable, as of the wings of awaking delight, would stir her little +heart with a sensation of physical presence and motion; she would find +herself giving an involuntary skip as she walked along, and now and +then humming a bit of a psalm tune. A hidden well was throbbing in the +child's bosom. Its waters had been frozen by the winter; and the +spring, which sets all things springing, had made it flow and swell +afresh, soon to break bubbling forth. But her joy was gentle, for even +when she was merriest, it was in a sobor, _douce_, and maidenly +fashion, testifying that she had already walked with Sorrow, and was +not afraid of her. + +Robert Bruce's last strategical move against the community had been +tolerably successful, even in his own eyes; and he was consequently so +far satisfied with himself, that he could afford to be in good humour +with other people. Annie came in for a share of this humour; and +although she knew him too well to have any regard for him, it was yet a +comfort to her to be on such terms with him as not to have to dread a +bitter word every time she chanced to meet him. This comfort, however, +stood on a sandy foundation; for the fact that an expected customer had +not called upon the Saturday might be enough to set the acetous +fermentation at work all the Sunday in the bosom of Robert Bruce. + +At length, one bright day in the end of March, Alec came home, not the +worse to friendly eyes for having been at college. He seemed the same +cheery, active youth as before. The chief differences apparent were, +that he had grown considerably, and that he wore a coat. The hat, at +that time a necessary portion of the college costume, he had discarded, +wearing his old cap in preference. There was likewise a certain +indescribable alteration in tone and manner, a certain general +crystallization and polish, which the same friends regarded as an +indubitable improvement. + +The day after his arrival, crossing the square of Glamerton, he spied, +in a group of men talking together, his old friend, Thomas Crann. He +went up and shook hands with him, and with Andrew Constable, the +clothier. + +"Has na he grown a lang chield?" said Andrew to Thomas, regarding Alec +kindly. + +"Humph!" returned Thomas, "he'll jist need the langer coffin." + +Alec laughed; but Andrew said, "Hoot! hoot!" + +Thomas and Alec walked away together. But scarcely a sentence had been +exchanged before the stonemason, with a delicacy of perception of which +his rough manner and horny hands gave no indication, felt that a film +of separation had come between the youth and himself. Anxious to break +through it, he said abruptly, + +"Hoo's yer immortal pairt, Alec? Min' ye, there's a knowledge that +worketh deith." + +Alec laughed--not scornfully--but he laughed. + +"Ye may lauch, Alec, but it's a sair trowth," said the mason. + +Alec held out his hand, for here their way diverged. Thomas shook it +kindly, but walked away gloomy. Arrived at home, he shut to his door, +and went down on his knees by his bedside. When Jean came with his +supper she found the door fast. + +In order to prepare for the mathematical studies of the following year, +Alec went to the school again in the morning of most days, Mr Malison +being well able to render him all the assistance he required. The first +time he made his appearance at the door, a silence as of death was the +sign of his welcome; but a tumult presently arose, and discipline was +for a time suspended. I am afraid he had a slight feeling of +condescension, as he returned the kind greeting of his old +companions.--Raise a housemaid to be cook, and she will condescend to +the new housemaid. + +Annie sat still, staring at her book, and turning red and pale +alternately. But he took no notice of her, and she tried to be glad of +it. + +When school was over, however, he came up to her in the lane, and +addressed her kindly. + +But the delicate little maiden felt, as the rough stonemason had felt, +that a change had passed over the old companion and friend. True, the +change was only a breath--a mere shadow. Yet it was a measureless gulf +between them. Annie went to her garret that night with a sense of sad +privation. + +But her pain sprung from a source hardly so deep as that of the +stonemason. For the change she found in Alec was chiefly of an external +kind, and if she had a vague feeling of a deeper change, it had +scarcely yet come up into her consciousness. When she saw the _young +gentleman_ her heart sank within her. Her friend was lost; and a shape +was going about, as he did, looking awfully like the old Alec, who had +carried her in his arms through the invading torrent. Nor was there +wanting, to complete the bewilderment of her feeling, a certain +additional reverence for the apparition, which she must after all +regard as a further development of the same person. + +Mrs Forbes never asked her to the house now, and it was well for her +that her friendship with Tibbie Dyster had begun. But as she saw Alec +day after day at school, the old colours began to revive out of the +faded picture--for to her it was a faded picture, although new +varnished. And when the spring had advanced a little, the boat was got +out, and then Alec could not go rowing in the _Bonnie Annie_ without +thinking of its godmother, and inviting her to join them. Indeed Curly +would not have let him forget her if he had been so inclined; for he +felt that she was a bond between him and Alec, and he loved Alec the +more devotedly that the rift between their social positions had begun +to show itself. The devotion of the schoolboy to his superior in +schoolboy arts had begun to change into something like the devotion of +the clansman to his chief--not the worst folly the world has known--in +fact not a folly at all, except it stop there: many enthusiasms are +follies only because they are not greater enthusiasms. And not +unfrequently would an odd laugh of consciousness between Annie and +Curly, unexpectedly meeting, reveal the fact that they were both +watching for a peep or a word of Alec. + +In due time the harvest came; and Annie could no more keep from +haunting the harvest than the crane could keep from flying south when +the summer is over. She watched all the fields around Glamerton; she +knew what response each made to the sun, and which would first be ripe +for the reaping; and the very day that the sickle was put in, there was +Annie to see and share in the joy. How mysterious she thought those +long colonnades of slender pillars, each supporting its own waving +comet-head of barley! Or when the sun was high, she would lie down on +the ground, and look far into the little forest of yellow polished +oat-stems, stretching away and away into the unseen--alas, so soon to +fall, and leave a naked commonplace behind! If she were only small +enough to go wandering about in it, what wonders might she not +discover!--But I forget that I am telling a story, and not writing a +fairy-tale.--Unquestioned as uninvited, she was, as she had often been +before, one of the company of reapers, gatherers, binders, and +stookers, assembled to collect the living gold of the earth from the +early fields of the farm of Howglen. Sadly her thoughts went back to +the old days when Dowie was master of the field, and she was Dowie's +little mistress. Not that she met with anything but kindness--only it +was not the kindness she had had from Dowie. But the pleasure of being +once more near Alec almost made up for every loss. And he was quite +friendly, although, she must confess, not quite so familiar as of old. +But that did not matter, she assured herself. + +The labourers all knew her, and themselves took care that she should +have the portion of their food which her assistance had well earned, +and which was all her wages. She never refused anything that was +offered her, except money. That she had taken only once in her +life--from Mr Cowie, whom she continued to love the more dearly for it, +although she no longer attended his church. + +But again the harvest was safely lodged, and the sad old age of the +year sank through rains and frosts to his grave. + +The winter came and Alec went. + +He had not been gone a week when Mrs Forbes's invitations re-commenced; +and, as if to make up for the neglect of the summer, they were more +frequent than before. No time was so happy for Annie as the time she +spent with her. She never dreamed of accusing her of fickleness or +unevenness, but received whatever kindness she offered with gratitude. +And, this winter, she began to make some return in the way of household +assistance. + +One day, while searching in the lumber-room for something for Mrs +Forbes, she came upon a little book lying behind a box. It was damp and +swollen and mouldy, and the binding was decayed and broken. The inside +was dingy and spotted with brown spots, and had too many �'s in it, as +she thought. Yet the first glance fascinated her. It had opened in the +middle of _L'Allegro_. Mrs Forbes found her standing spell-bound, +reading the rhymed poems of the man whose blank-verse, two years +before, she had declined as not what poetry ought to be. I have often +seen a child refuse his food, and, after being compelled to eat one +mouthful, gladly devour the whole. In like manner Annie, having once +tasted Milton's poetry, did not let it go till she had devoured even +the _Paradise Lost_, of which when she could not make sense, she at +least made music�the chords of old John Milton's organ sounding through +his son's poetry in the brain of a little Scotch lassie who never heard +an organ in her life. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. + + +"Hillo, bantam!" exclaimed Mr Cupples, to Alec entering his garret +within an hour of his arrival in his old quarters, and finding the soul +of the librarian still hovering in the steam of his tumbler, like one +of Swedenborg's damned over the odour of his peculiar hell. As he spoke +he emptied the glass, the custom of drinking from which, instead of +from the tumbler itself--rendering it impossible to get drunk all at +once--is one of the atonements offered by the Scotch to their tutelar +god--Propriety.--"Come awa'. What are ye stan'in' there for, as gin ye +warna at hame," he added, seeing that Alec lingered on the threshold. +"Sit doon. I'm nae a'thegither sorry to see ye." + +"Have you been to the country, Mr Cupples?" asked Alec, as he took a +chair. + +"The country! Na, I haena been i' the country. I'm a toon-snail. The +country's for calves and geese. It's ower green for me. I like the gray +stanes--weel biggit, to haud oot the cauld. I jist reverse the opingon +o' the auld duke in Mr Shackspere;--for this my life + + 'Find trees in tongues, its running brooks in books, + Stones in sermons,---' + +and I canna gang on ony farther wi' 't. The last's true ony gait. I +winna gie ye ony toddy though." + +"I dinna want nane." + +"That's richt. Keep to that negation as an anchor o' the soul, sure and +steadfast. There's no boddom to the sea ye'll gang doon in gin ye cut +the cable that hauds ye to that anchor. Here's to ye!" + +And again Mr Cupples emptied his glass. + +"Hoo are ye prepared for yer mathematics?" he resumed. + +"Middlin' only," answered Alec. + +"I was doobtin' that. Sma' preparation does weel eneuch for Professor +Fraser's Greek; but ye'll fin' it's anither story wi' the mathematics. +Ye maun jist come to me wi' them as ye did wi' the Greek." + +"Thank you, Mr Cupples," said Alec heartily. "I don't know how to repay +you." + +"Repay me! I want nae repayment. Only spier nae questons at me, and +gang awa whan I'm drunk." + +After all his summer preparation, Alec was still behind in mathematics; +for while, with a distinct object in view, he was capable of +much--without one, reading was a weariness to him. His medical studies, +combining, as they did, in their anatomical branch, much to be learned +by the eye and the hand with what was to be learned from books, +interested him more and more. + +One afternoon, intent upon a certain course of investigation, he +remained in the dissecting room after the other students had gone, and +worked away till it grew dark. He then lighted a candle, and worked on. +The truth was unfolding itself gently and willingly. At last, feeling +tired, he laid down his scalpel, dropped upon a wooden chair, and, cold +as it was, fell fast asleep. When he awoke, the candle was _bobbing_ in +its socket, alternately lighting and shadowing the dead man on the +table. Strange glooms were gathering about the bottles on the shelves, +and especially about one corner of the room, where--but I must not +particularize too much. It must be remembered that he had awaked +suddenly, in a strange place, and with a fitful light. He confessed to +Mr Cupples that he had felt a little uncomfortable--not frightened, but +_eerie_. He was just going to rise and go home, when, as he stretched +out his hand for his scalpel, the candle sunk in darkness, and he lost +the guiding glitter of the knife. At the same moment, he caught a +doubtful gleam of two eyes looking in at him from one of the windows. +That moment the place became insupportable with horror. The vague sense +of an undefined presence turned the school of science into a +charnel-house. He started up, hurried from the room, feeling as if his +feet took no hold of the floor and his back was fearfully exposed, +locked the door, threw the key upon the porter's table, and fled. He +did not recover his equanimity till he found himself in the long narrow +street that led to his lodgings, lighted from many little shop-windows +in stone gable and front. + +By the time he had had his tea, and learned a new proposition of +Euclid, the fright seemed to lie far behind him. It was not so far as +he thought, however, for he started to his feet when a sudden gust of +wind shook his windows. But then it was a still frosty night, and such +a gust was not to be expected. He looked out. Far above shone the +stars. + +"How they sparkle in the frost!" he said, as if the frost reached them. +But they did look like the essential life that makes snow-flakes and +icy spangles everywhere--they were so like them, only they were of +fire. Even snow itself must have fire at the heart of it.--All was +still enough up there. + +Then he looked down into the street, full of the comings and goings of +people, some sauntering and staring, others hastening along. Beauchamp +was looking in at the window of a second-hand book-shop opposite. + +Not being able to compose himself again to his studies, he resolved, as +he had not called on Mr Fraser for some time, and the professor had not +been at the class that day, to go and inquire after him now. + +Mr Fraser lived in the quadrangle of the college; but in the mood Alec +was in, nothing would do him so much good as a walk in the frost. He +was sure of a welcome from the old man; for although Alec gave but +little attention to Greek now, Mr Fraser was not at all dissatisfied +with him, knowing that he was doing his best to make himself a good +doctor. His friendliness towards him had increased; for he thought he +saw in him noble qualities; and now that he was an old man, he +delighted to have a youth near him with whose youthfulness he could +come into harmonious contact. It is because the young cannot recognize +the youth of the aged, and the old will not acknowledge the experience +of the young, that they repel each other. + +Alec was shown into the professor's drawing-room. This was unusual. The +professor was seated in an easy-chair, with one leg outstretched before +him. + +"Excuse me, Mr Forbes," he said, holding out his left hand without +rising. "I am laid up with the gout--I don't know why. The port wine my +grandfather drunk, I suppose. _I_ never drink it. I'm afraid it's old +age. And yon's my nurse.--Mr Forbes, your cousin, Kate, my dear." + +Alec started. There, at the other side of the fire, sat a girl, half +smiling and half blushing as she looked up from her work. The candles +between them had hid her from him. He advanced, and she rose and held +out her hand. He was confused; she was perfectly collected, although +the colour rose a little more in her cheek. She might have been a year +older than Alec. + +"So you are a cousin of mine, Mr Forbes!" she said, when they were all +seated by the blazing fire--she with a piece of plain work in her +hands, he with a very awkward nothing in his, and the professor +contemplating his swathed leg on the chair before him. + +"So your uncle says," he answered, "and I am very happy to believe him. +I hope we shall be good friends." + +Alec was recovering himself. + +"I hope we shall," she responded, with a quick, shy, asking glance from +her fine eyes. + +Those eyes were worth looking into, if only as a study of colour. They +were of many hues marvellously blended. I think grey and blue and brown +and green were all to be found in them. Their glance rather discomposed +Alec. He had not learned before that ladies' eyes are sometimes very +discomposing. Yet he could not keep his from wandering towards them; +and the consequence was that he soon lost the greater part of his +senses. After sitting speechless for some moments, and feeling as if he +had been dumb for as many minutes, he was seized by a horrible +conviction that if he remained silent an instant longer, he would be +driven to do or say something absurd. So he did the latter at once by +bursting out with the stupid question, + +"What are you working at?" + +"A duster," she answered instantly--this time without looking up. + +Now the said duster was of the finest cambric; so that Alec could not +help seeing that she was making game of him. This banished his shyness, +and put him on his mettle. + +"I see," he said, "when I ask questions, you--" + +"Tell lies," she interposed, without giving him time even to hesitate; +adding, + +"Does your mother answer all your questions, Mr Forbes?" + +"I believe she does--one way or other." + +"Then it is sometimes the other way? Is she nice?" + +"Who?" returned Alec, surprised into doubt. + +"Your mother." + +"She's the best woman in the world," he answered with vehemence, almost +shocked at having to answer such a question. + +"Oh! I beg your pardon," returned Kate, laughing; and the laugh curled +her lip, revealing very pretty teeth, with a semi-transparent +pearly-blue shadow in them. + +"I am glad she is nice," she went on. "I should like to know her. +Mothers are not _always_ nice. I knew a girl at school whose mother +wasn't nice at all." + +She did not laugh after this childish speech, but let her face settle +into perfect stillness--sadness indeed, for a shadow came over the +stillness. Mr Fraser sat watching the two with his amused old face, one +side of it twitching in the effort to suppress the smile which sought +to break from the useful half of his mouth. His gout could not have +been very bad just then. + +"I see, Katie, what that long chin of yours is thinking," he said. + +"What is my chin thinking, uncle?" she asked. + +"That uncles are not always nice either. They snub little girls, +sometimes, don't they?" + +"I know one who _is_ nice, all except one naughty leg." + +She rose, as she said this, and going round to the back of his chair, +leaned over it, and kissed his forehead. The old man looked up to her +gratefully. + +"Ah, Katie!" he said, "you may make game of an old man like me. But +don't try your tricks on Mr Forbes there. He won't stand them." + +Alec blushed. Kate went back to her seat, and took up her duster again. + +Alec was a little short-sighted, though he had never discovered it till +now. When Kate leaned over her uncle's chair, near which he was +sitting, he saw that she was still prettier than he had thought her +before.--There are few girls who to a short-sighted person look +prettier when they come closer; the fact being that the general intent +of the face, which the generalizing effect of the shortness of the +sight reveals, has ordinarily more of beauty in it than has yet been +carried out in detail; so that, as the girl approaches, one face seems +to melt away, and another, less beautiful, to dawn up through it. + +But, as I have said, this was not Alec's experience with Kate; for, +whatever it might indicate, she looked prettier when she came nearer. +He found too that her great mass of hair, instead of being, as he had +thought, dull, was in reality full of glints and golden hints, as if +she had twisted up a handful of sunbeams with it in the morning, which, +before night, had faded a little, catching something of the duskiness +and shadowiness of their prison. One thing more he saw--that her +hand--she rested it on the back of the dark chair, and so it had caught +his eye--was small and white; and those were all the qualities Alec was +as yet capable of appreciating in a hand. Before she got back to her +seat, he was very nearly in love with her. I suspect that those +generally who fall in love at first sight have been in love before. At +least such was Romeo's case. And certainly it was not Alec's. Yet I +must confess, if he had talked stupidly before, he talked worse now; +and at length went home with the conviction that he had made a great +donkey of himself. + +As he walked the lonely road, and the street now fast closing its +windows and going to sleep, he was haunted by a very different vision +from that which had accompanied him a few hours ago. Then it was the +dead face of a man, into which his busy fancy had reset the living eyes +that he had seen looking in at the window of the dissecting room; now +it was the lovely face of his new-found cousin, possessing him so that +he could fear nothing. Life had cast out death. Love had cast out fear. + +But love had cast out more. For he found, when he got home, that he +could neither read nor think. If Kate could have been _conscious_ of +its persistent intrusion upon Alec's thoughts, and its constant +interruption of his attempts at study, she would have been ashamed of +that pretty face of hers, and ready to disown it for its forwardness. +At last, he threw his book to the other end of the room, and went to +bed, where he found it not half so difficult to go to sleep as it had +been to study. + +The next day things went better; for he was not yet so lost that a +night's rest could do him no good. But it was fortunate that there was +no Greek class, and that he was not called up to read Latin that day. +For the anatomy, he was in earnest about that; and love itself, so long +as its current is not troubled by opposing rocks, will not disturb the +studies of a real student--much. + +As he left the dissecting-room, he said to himself that he would just +look in and see how Mr Fraser was. He was shown into the professor's +study. + +Mr Fraser smiled as he entered with a certain grim comicality which +Alec's conscience interpreted into: "This won't do, my young man." + +"I hope your gout is better to-day, sir," he said, sending his glance +wide astray of his words. + +"Yes, I thank you, Mr Forbes," answered Mr Fraser, "it is better. Won't +you sit down?" + +Warned by that smile, Alec was astute enough to decline, and presently +took his leave. As he shut the study door, however, he thought he would +just peep into the dining-room, the door of which stood open opposite. +There she was, sitting at the table, writing. + +"Who can that letter be to?" thought Alec. But it was early days to be +jealous. + +"How do you do, Mr Forbes?" said Kate, holding out her hand. + +Could it be that he had seen her only yesterday? Or was his visual +memory so fickle that he had forgotten what she was like? She was so +different from what he had been fancying her! + +The fact was merely this--that she had been writing to an old friend, +and her manner for the time, as well as her expression, was affected by +her mental proximity to that friend;--so plastic--so fluent even--was +her whole nature. Indeed Alec was not long in finding out that one of +her witcheries was, that she was never the same. But on this the first +occasion, the alteration in her bewildered him. + +"I am glad to find your uncle better," he said. + +"Yes.--You have seen him, then?" + +"Yes. I was very busy in the dissecting-room, till--" + +He stopped; for he saw her shudder. + +"I beg your pardon," he hastened to substitute.--"We are so used to +those things, that--" + +"Don't say a word more about it, please," she said hastily. Then, in a +vague kind of way--"Won't you sit down?" + +"No, thank you. I must go home," answered Alec, feeling that she did +not want him. "Good night," he added, advancing a step. + +"Good night, Mr Forbes," she returned in the same vague manner, and +without extending her hand. + +Alec checked himself, bowed, and went with a feeling of mortification, +and the resolution not to repeat his visit too soon. + +She interfered with his studies notwithstanding, and sent him wandering +in the streets, when he ought to have been reading at home. One bright +moonlight night he found himself on the quay, and spying a boat at the +foot of one of the stairs, asked the man in it if he was ready for a +row. The man agreed. Alec got in, and they rowed out of the river, and +along the coast to a fishing village where the man lived, and whence +Alec walked home. This was the beginning of many such boating +excursions made by Alec in the close of this session. They greatly +improved his boatmanship, and strengthened his growing muscles. The end +of the winter was mild, and there were not many days unfit for the +exercise. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. + + +The next Saturday but one Alec received a note from Mr Fraser, hoping +that his new cousin had not driven him away, and inviting him to dine +that same afternoon. + +He went. After dinner the old man fell asleep in his chair. + +"Where were you born?" Alec asked Kate. + +She was more like his first impression of her. + +"Don't you know?" she replied. "In the north of Sutherlandshire--near +the foot of a great mountain, from the top of which, on the longest +day, you can see the sun, or a bit of him at least, all night long." + +"How glorious!" said Alec. + +"I don't know. _I_ never saw him. And the winters are so long and +terrible! Nothing but snowy hills about you, and great clouds always +coming down with fresh loads of snow to scatter over them." + +"Then you don't want to go back?" + +"No. There is nothing to make me wish to go back. There is no one there +to love me now." + +She looked very sad for a few moments. + +"Yes," said Alec, thoughtfully; "a winter without love must be +dreadful. But I like the winter; and we have plenty of it in our +quarter too." + +"Where is your home?" + +"Not many miles north of this." + +"Is it a nice place?" + +"Of course I think so." + +"Ah! you have a mother. I wish I knew her." + +"I wish you did.--True: the whole place is like her to me. But I don't +think everybody would admire it. There are plenty of bare snowy hills +there too in winter. But I think the summers and the harvests are as +delightful as anything can be, except--" + +"Except what?" + +"Don't make me say what will make you angry with me." + +"Now you must, else I shall fancy something that will make me _more_ +angry." + +"Except your face, then," said Alec, frightened at his own boldness, +but glancing at her shyly. + +She flushed a little, but did not look angry. + +"I don't like that," she said. "It makes one feel awkward." + +"At least," rejoined Alec, emboldened, "you must allow it is your own +fault." + +"I can't help my face," she said, laughing. + +"Oh! you know what I mean. You made me say it." + +"Yes, after you had half-said it already. Don't do it again." + +And there followed more of such foolish talk, uninteresting to my +readers. + +"Where were you at school?" asked Alec, after a pause. "Your uncle told +me you were at school." + +"Near London," she answered. + +"Ah! that accounts for your beautiful speech." + +"There again. I declare I will wake my uncle if you go on in that way." + +"I beg your pardon," protested Alec; "I forgot." + +"But," she went on, "in Sutherlandshire we don't talk so horribly as +they do here." + +"I daresay not," returned Alec, humbly. + +"I don't mean you. I wonder how it is that you speak so much better +than all the people here." + +"I suppose because my mother speaks well. She never lets me speak broad +Scotch to her." + +"Your mother again! She's everything to you." + +Alec did not reply. + +"I _should_ like to see her," pursued Kate. + +"You must come and see her, then." + +"See whom?" asked Mr Fraser, rousing himself from his nap. + +"My mother, sir," answered Alec. + +"Oh! I thought you had been speaking of Katie's friend," said the +professor, and fell asleep again. + +"Uncle means Bessie Warner, who is coming by the steamer from London on +Monday. Isn't it kind of uncle to ask her to come and see me here?" + +"He is kind always. Was Miss Warner a schoolfellow of yours?" + +"Yes--no--not exactly. She was one of the governesses. I _must_ go and +meet her at the steamer. Will you go with me?" + +"I shall be delighted. Do you know when she arrives?" + +"They say about six. I daresay it is not very punctual." + +"Oh! yes, she is--when the weather is decent. I will make inquiries, +and come and fetch you." + +"Thank you.--I suppose I may, uncle?" + +"What, my dear?" said the professor, rousing himself again. + +"Have my cousin to take care of me when I go to meet Bessie?" + +"Yes, certainly. I shall be much obliged to you, Mr Forbes. I am not +quite so agile as I was at your age, though my gouty leg _is_ better." + +This conversation would not have been worth recording were it not that +it led to the walk and the waiting on Monday.--They found, when they +reached the region of steamers, that she had not yet been signalled, +but her people were expecting the signal every minute. So Alec and Kate +walked out along the pier, to pass the time. This pier runs down the +side of the river, and a long way into the sea. It had begun to grow +dark, and Alec had to take great care of Kate amongst the tramways, +coils of rope, and cables that crossed their way. At length they got +clear of these, and found themselves upon the pier, built of great +rough stones--lonely and desert, tapering away into the dark, its end +invisible, but indicated by the red light far in front. + +"It is a rough season of the year for a lady to come by sea," said +Alec. + +"Bessie is very fond of the sea," answered Kate. "I hope you will like +her, Mr Forbes." + +"Do you want me to like her better than you?" rejoined Alec. "Because +if you do--" + +"Look how beautiful that red light is on the other side of the river," +interrupted Kate. "And there is another further out." + +"When the man at the helm gets those two lights in a line," said Alec, +"he may steer straight in, in the darkest night--that is, if the tide +serves for the bar." + +"Look how much more glorious the red shine is on the water below!" said +Kate. + +"It looks so wet!" returned Alec,--"just like blood." + +He almost cursed himself as he said so, for he felt Kate's hand stir as +if she would withdraw it from his arm. But after fluttering like a bird +for a moment, it settled again upon its perch, and there rested. + +The day had been quite calm, but now a sudden gust of wind from the +north-east swept across the pier and made Kate shiver. Alec drew her +shawl closer about her, and her arm further within his. They were now +close to the sea. On the other side of the wall which rose on their +left, they could hear the first of the sea-waves. It was a dreary +place--no sound even indicating the neighbourhood of life. On one side, +the river below them went flowing out to the sea in the dark, giving a +cold sluggish gleam now and then, as if it were a huge snake heaving up +a bend of its wet back, as it hurried away to join its fellows; on the +other side rose a great wall of stone, beyond which was the sound of +long waves following in troops out of the dark, and falling upon a low +moaning coast. Clouds hung above the sea; and above the clouds two or +three disconsolate stars. + +"Here is a stair," said Alec. "Let us go up on the top of the sea-wall, +and then we shall catch the first glimpse of the light at her funnel." + +They climbed the steep rugged steps, and stood on the broad wall, +hearing the sea-pulses lazily fall at its foot. The wave crept away +after it fell, and returned to fall again like a weary hound. There was +hardly any life in the sea. How mournful it was to lie out there, the +wintry night, beneath an all but starless heaven, with the wind vexing +it when it wanted to sleep! + +Alec feeling Kate draw a deep breath like the sigh of the sea, looked +round in her face. There was still light enough to show it frowning and +dark and sorrowful and hopeless. It was in fact a spiritual mirror, +which reflected in human forms the look of that weary waste of waters. +She gave a little start, gathered herself together, and murmured +something about the cold. + +"Let us go down again," said Alec.--"The wind has risen considerably, +and the wall will shelter us down below." + +"No, no," she answered; "I like it. We can walk here just as well. I +don't mind the wind." + +"I thought you were afraid of falling off." + +"No, not in the dark. I should be, I daresay, if I could see how far we +are from the bottom." + +So they walked on. The waves no longer fell at the foot of the wall, +but leaned their breasts against it, gleaming as they rose on its +front, and darkening as they sank low towards its deep base. + +The wind kept coming in gusts, tearing a white gleam now and then on +the dark surface of the sea. Behind them shone the dim lights of the +city; before them all was dark as eternity, except for the one light at +the end of the pier. At length Alec spied another out at sea. + +"I believe that is the steamer," he said. "But she is a good way off. +We shall have plenty of time to walk to the end--that is, if you would +like to go." + +"Certainly; let us go on. I want to stand on the very point," answered +Kate. + +They soon came to the lighthouse on the wall, and there descended to +the lower part of the pier, the end of which now plunged with a steep +descent into the sea. It was constructed of great stones clamped with +iron, and built into a natural foundation of rock. Up the slope the +waves rushed, and down the slope they sank again, with that seemingly +aimless and resultless rise and fall, which makes the sea so dreary and +sad to those men and women who are not satisfied without some goal in +view, some outcome of their labours; for it goes on and on, answering +ever to the call of sun and moon, and the fierce trumpet of the winds, +yet working nothing but the hopeless wear of the bosom in which it lies +bound for ever. + +They stood looking out into the great dark before them, dark air, dark +sea, dark sky, watching the one light which grew brighter as they +gazed. Neither of them saw that a dusky figure was watching them from +behind a great cylindrical stone that stood on the end of the pier, +close to the wall. + +A wave rushed up almost to their feet. + +"Let us go," said Kate, with a shiver. "I can't bear it longer. The +water is calling me and threatening me. There! How that wave rushed up +as if it wanted me at once!" + +Alec again drew her closer to him, and turning, they walked slowly +back. He was silent with the delight of having that lovely creature all +to himself, leaning on his arm, in the infolding and protecting +darkness, and Kate was likewise silent. + +By the time they reached the quay at the other end of the pier, the +steamer had crossed the bar, and they could hear the _thud_ of her +paddles treading the water beneath them, as if eagerly because she was +near her rest. After a few struggles, she lay quiet in her place, and +they went on board. + +Alec saw Kate embrace a girl perhaps a little older than herself, +helped her to find her luggage, put them into a chaise, took his leave, +and went home. + +He did not know that all the way back along the pier they had been +followed by Patrick Beauchamp. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + + +Excited, and unable to settle to his work, Alec ran upstairs to Mr +Cupples, whom he had not seen for some days. He found him not more than +half-way towards his diurnal goal. + +"What's come o' _you_, bantam, this mony a day?" said Mr Cupples. + +"I saw ye last Saturday," said Alec. + +"Last Setterday week, ye mean," rejoined the librarian. "Hoo's the +mathematics comin' on?" + +"To tell the truth, I'm raither ahin' wi' them," answered Alec. + +"I was thinkin' as muckle. Rainbows! Thae rainbows! And the anawtomy?" + +"Nae jist stan'in' still a'thegither." + +"That's weel. Ye haena been fa'in' asleep again ower the guddlet +carcass o' an auld pauper--hae ye?" + +Alec stared. He had never told any one of his adventure in the +dissecting-room. + +"I saw ye, my man. But I wasna the only ane that saw ye. Ye micht hae +gotten a waur fleg gin I hadna come up, for Mr Beauchamp was takin' the +bearin's o' ye throu the window, and whan I gaed up, he slippit awa' +like a wraith. There ye lay, wi' yer heid back, and yer mou' open, as +gin you and the deid man had been tryin' whilk wad sleep the soun'est. +But ye hae ta'en to ither studies sin' syne. Ye hae a freah subject--a +bonnie young ane. The Lord hae mercy upo' ye! The goddess o' the +rainbow hersel's gotten a haud o' ye, and ye'll be seein' naething but +rainbows for years to come.--Iris bigs bonnie brigs, but they hae +nowther pier, nor buttress, nor key-stane, nor parapet. And no fit can +gang ower them but her ain, and whan she steps aff, it's upo' men's +herts, and yours can ill bide her fit, licht as it may be." + +"What are ye propheseein' at, Mr Cupples?" said Alec, who did not more +than half understand him. + +"Verra weel. I'm no drunk yet," rejoined Mr Cupples, oracularly. "But +that chield Beauchamp's no rainbow--that lat me tell ye. He'll do you a +mischeef yet, gin ye dinna luik a' the shairper. I ken the breed o' +him. He was luikin' at ye throu the window like a hungry deevil. And +jist min' what ye're aboot wi' the lassie--she's rael bonnie--or ye may +chance to get her into trouble, withoot ony wyte (fault) o' yer ain. +Min' I'm tellin' ye. Gin ye'll tak my advice, ye'll tak a dose o' +mathematics direckly. It's a fine alterative as weel as antidote, +though maybe whusky's.....the verra broo o' the deevil's ain pot," he +concluded, altering his tone entirely, and swallowing the rest of his +glass at a gulp. + +"What do ye want me to do?" asked Alec. + +"To tak tent (care) o' Beauchamp. And meantime to rin doon for yer +Euclid and yer Hutton, and lat's see whaur ye are." + +There was more ground for Mr Cupples's warning than Alec had the +smallest idea of. He had concluded long ago that all possible +relations, even those of enmity--practical enmity at least--were over +between them, and that Mr Beauchamp considered the bejan sufficiently +punished for thrashing him, by being deprived of his condescending +notice for the rest of the ages. But so far was this from being the +true state of the case, that, although Alec never suspected it, +Beauchamp had in fact been dogging and haunting him from the very +commencement of the session, and Mr Cupples had caught him in only one +of many acts of the kind. In the anatomical class, where they continued +to meet, he still attempted to keep up the old look of diadain, as if +the lesson he had received had in no way altered their relative +position. Had Alec known with what difficulty, and under what a load of +galling recollection, he kept it up, he would have been heartily sorry +for him. Beauchamp's whole consciousness was poisoned by the memory of +that day. Incapable of regarding any one except in comparative relation +to himself, the effort of his life had been to maintain that feeling of +superiority with which he started every new acquaintance; for +occasionally a flash of foreign individuality would break through the +husk of satisfaction in which he had inclosed himself, compelling him +to feel that another man might have claims. And hitherto he had been +very successful in patching up and keeping entire his eggshell of +conceit. But that affair with Alec was a very bad business. Had +Beauchamp been a coward, he would have suffered less from it. But he +was no coward, though not quite so courageous as Hector, who yet turned +and fled before Achilles. Without the upholding sense of duty, no man +can be sure of his own behaviour, simply because he cannot be sure of +his own nerves. Duty kept the red-cross knight "forlorne and left to +losse," "haplesse and eke hopelesse," + + "Disarmd, disgraste, and inwardly dismayde, + And eke so faint in every joynt and vayne," + +from turning his back on the giant Orgoglio, and sent him pacing +towards him with feeble steps instead. But although he was not wanting +in mere animal courage, Beauchamp's pride always prevented him from +engaging in any contest in which he was not sure of success, the +thought of failure being to him unendurable. When he found that he had +miscalculated the probabilities, he was instantly dismayed; and the +blow he received on his mouth reminding his vanity of the danger his +handsome face was in, he dropped his arms and declined further contest, +comforting himself with the fancy of postponing his vengeance to a +better opportunity. + +But within an hour he knew that he had lost his chance, as certainly as +he who omits the flood-tide of his fortune. He not only saw that he was +disgraced, but felt in himself that he had been cowardly; and, more +mortifying still, felt that, with respect to the clodhopper, he was +cowardly now. He was afraid of him. Nor could he take refuge in the old +satisfaction of despising him; for that he found no longer possible. He +was on the contrary compelled to despise himself, an experience +altogether new; so that his contempt for Alec changed into a fierce, +slow-burning hate. + +Now hate keeps its object present even more than the opposite passion. +Love makes everything lovely; hate concentrates itself on the one thing +hated. The very sound of Alec's voice became to the ears of Beauchamp +what a filthy potion would have been to his palate. Every line of his +countenance became to his eyes what a disgusting odour would have been +to his nostrils. And yet the fascination of his hate, and his desire of +revenge, kept Beauchamp's ears, eyes, and thoughts hovering about +Forbes. + +No way of gratifying his hatred, however, although he had been brooding +over it all the previous summer, had presented itself till now. Now he +saw the possibility of working a dear revenge. But even now, to work +surely, he must delay long. Still the present consolation was great. + +Nor is it wonderful that his pride should not protect him from the +deeper disgrace of walking in underground ways. For there is nothing in +the worship of self to teach a man to be noble. Honour even will one +day fail him who has learned no higher principle. And although revenge +be "a kind of wild justice," it loses the justice, and retains only the +wildness, when it corrupts into hatred. Every feeling that Beauchamp +had was swallowed up in the gulf eaten away by that worst of all +canker-worms. + +Notwithstanding the humiliation he had experienced, he retained as yet +an unlimited confidence in some gifts which he supposed himself to +possess by nature, and to be capable of using with unequalled art. And +true hate, as well as true love, knows how to wait. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + + +In the course of her study of Milton, Annie had come upon Samson's +lamentation over his blindness; and had found, soon after, the passage +in which Milton, in his own person, bewails the loss of light. The +thought that she would read them to Tibbie Dyster was a natural one. +She borrowed the volumes from Mrs Forbes; and, the next evening, made +her way to Tibbie's cottage, where she was welcomed as usual by her +gruff voice of gratefulness. + +"Ye're a gude bairn to come a' this gait through the snaw to see an +auld blin' body like me. It's dingin' on (snowing or raining)--is na +'t, bairn?" + +"Ay is't. Hoo do ye ken, Tibbie?" + +"I dinna ken hoo I ken. I was na sure. The snaw maks unco little din, +ye see. It comes doon like the speerit himsel' upo' quaiet herts." + +"Did ye ever see, Tibbie?" asked Annie, after a pause. + +"Na; nae that I min' upo'. I was but twa year auld, my mither used to +tell fowk, whan I had the pock, an' it jist closed up my een for +ever--i' this warl, ye ken. I s' see some day as weel's ony o' ye, +lass." + +"Do ye ken what licht is, Tibbie?" said Annie, whom Milton had set +meditating on Tibbie's physical in relation to her mental condition. + +"Ay, weel eneuch," answered Tibbie, with a touch of indignation at the +imputed ignorance. "What for no? What gars ye spier?" + +"Ow! I jist wanted to ken." + +"Hoo could I no ken? Disna the Saviour say: 'I am the licht o' the +warl?'--He that walketh in Him maun ken what licht is, lassie. Syne ye +hae the licht in yersel--in yer ain hert; an' ye maun ken what it is. +Ye canna mistak' it." + +Annie was neither able nor willing to enter into an argument on the +matter, although she was not satisfied. She would rather think than +dispute about it. So she changed the subject in a measure. + +"Did ye ever hear o' John Milton, Tibbie?" she asked. + +"Ow! ay. He was blin' like mysel,' wasna he?" + +"Ay, was he. I hae been readin' a heap o' his poetry." + +"Eh! I wad richt weel like to hear a bittie o' 't." + +"Weel, here's a bit 'at he made as gin Samson was sayin' o' 't, till +himsel' like, efter they had pitten oot's een--the Phillisteens, ye +ken." + +"Ay, I ken weel eneuch. Read it." + +Annie read the well-known passage. Tibbie listened to the end, without +word of remark or question, her face turned towards the reader, and her +sightless balls rolling under their closed lids. When Annie's voice +ceased, she said, after a little reflection: + +"Ay! ay! It's bonnie, an' verra true. And, puir man! it was waur for +him nor for me and Milton; for it was a' his ain wyte; and it was no to +be expecket he cud be sae quaiet as anither. But he had no richt to +queston the ways o' the Maker. But it's bonnie, rael bonnie." + +"Noo, I'll jist read to ye what Milton says aboot his ain blin'ness. +But it's some ill to unnerstan'." + +"Maybe I'll unnerstan' 't better nor you, bairn. Read awa'." + +So admonished, Annie read. Tibbie fidgeted about on her seat. It was +impossible either should understand it. And the proper names were a +great puzzle to them. + +"Tammy Riss!" said Tibbie; "I ken naething aboot _him_." + +"Na, neither do I," said Annie; and beginning the line again, she +blundered over "_blind Maeonides_." + +"Ye're readin' 't wrang, bairn. It sud be '_nae ony days_,' for there's +nae days or nichts either to the blin'. They dinna ken the differ, ye +see." + +"I'm readin' 't as I hae't," answered Annie. "It's a muckle M." + +"I ken naething aboot yer muckle or yer little Ms," retorted Tibbie, +with indignation. "Gin that binna what it means, it's ayont me. Read +awa'. Maybe we'll come to something better." + +"Ay will we?" said Annie, and resumed. + +With the words, "_Thus with the year seasons return_," Tibbie's +attention grew fixed; and when the reader came to the passage, + + "So much the rather thou, Celestial Light, + Shine inward," + +her attention rose into rapture. + +"Ay, ay, lassie! That man kent a' aboot it! He wad never hae speired +gin a blin' crater like me kent what the licht was. He kent what it was +weel. Ay did he!" + +"But, ye see, he was a gey auld man afore he tint his eesicht," Annie +ventured to interpose. + +"Sae muckle the better! He kent baith kinds. And he kent that the sicht +without the een is better nor the sicht o' the een. Fowk nae doobt has +baith; but I think whiles 'at the Lord gies a grainy mair o' the inside +licht to mak' up for the loss o' the ootside; and weel I wat it doesna +want muckle to do that." + +"But ye dinna ken what it is," objected Annie, with unnecessary +persistency in the truth. + +"Do ye tell me that again?" returned Tibbie, harshly. "Ye'll anger me, +bairn. Gin ye kent hoo I lie awauk at nicht, no able to sleep for +thinkin' 'at the day _will_ come whan I'll see--wi' my ain open +een--the verra face o' him that bore oor griefs an' carried oor +sorrows, till I jist lie and greit, for verra wissin', ye wadna say 'at +I dinna ken what the sicht o' a body's een is. Sae nae mair o' that! I +beg o' ye, or I'll jist need to gang to my prayers to haud me ohn been +angry wi' ane o' the Lord's bairns; for that ye _are_, I do believe, +Annie Anderson. Ye canna ken what blin'ness is; but I doobt ye ken what +the licht is, lassie; and, for the lave (rest), jist ye lippen (trust) +to John Milton and me." + +Annie dared not say another word. She sat silent--perhaps rebuked. But +Tibbie resumed: + +"Ye maunna think, hooever, 'cause sic longin' thouchts come ower me, +that I gang aboot the hoose girnin' and compleenin' that I canna open +the door and win oot. Na, na. I could jist despise the licht, whiles, +that ye mak' sic a wark aboot, and sing and shout, as the Psalmist +says; for I'm jist that glaid, that I dinna ken hoo to haud it in. For +the Lord's my frien'. I can jist tell him a' that comes into my puir +blin' heid. Ye see there's ither ways for things to come intil a body's +heid. There's mair doors nor the een. There's back doors, whiles, that +lat ye oot to the bonnie gairden, and that's better nor the road-side. +And the smell o' the braw flooers comes in at the back winnocks, ye +ken.--Whilk o' the bonnie flooers do ye think likest _Him_, Annie +Anderson?" + +"Eh! I dinna ken, Tibbie. I'm thinkin' they maun be a' like him." + +"Ay, ay, nae doobt. But some o' them may be liker him nor ithers." + +"Weel, whilk do _ye_ think likest him, Tibbie?" + +"I think it maun be the minnonette--sae clean and sae fine and sae weel +content." + +"Ay, ye're speiken by the smell, Tibbie. But gin ye saw the rose--" + +"Hoots! I hae seen the rose mony a time. Nae doobt it's bonnier to luik +at--" and here her fingers went moving about as if they were feeling +the full-blown sphere of a rose--"but I think, for my pairt, that the +minnonette's likest Him." + +"May be," was all Annie's reply, and Tibbie went on. + +"There maun be faces liker him nor ithers. Come here, Annie, and lat me +fin (feel) whether ye be like him or no." + +"Hoo can ye ken that?--ye never saw him." + +"Never saw him! I hae seen him ower and ower again. I see him whan I +like. Come here, I say." + +Annie went and knelt down beside her, and the blind woman passed her +questioning fingers in solemn silence over and over the features of the +child. At length, with her hands still resting upon Annie's head, she +uttered her judgment. + +"Ay. Some like him, nae doot. But she'll be a heap liker him whan she +sees him as he is." + +When a Christian proceeds to determine the rightness of his neighbour +by his approximation to his fluctuating ideal, it were well if the +judgment were tempered by such love as guided the hands of blind Tibbie +over the face of Annie in their attempt to discover whether or not she +was like the Christ of her visions. + +"Do ye think _ye_'re like him, Tibbie?" said Annie with a smile, which +Tibbie at once detected in the tone. + +"Hoots, bairn! I had the pock dreidfu', ye ken." + +"Weel, maybe we a' hae had something or ither that hauds us ohn been +sae bonny as we micht hae been. For ae thing, there's the guilt o' +Adam's first sin, ye ken." + +"Verra richt, bairn. Nae doot that's blaudit mony a face--'the want o' +original richteousness, and the corruption o' our whole natur'.' The +wonner is that we're like him at a'. But we maun be like him, for he +was a man born o' a wumman.' Think o' that, lass!" + +At this moment the latch of the door was lifted, and in walked Robert +Bruce. He gave a stare when he saw Annie, for he had thought her out of +the way at Howglen, and said in a tone of asperity, + +"Ye're a' gait at ance, Annie Anderson. A doonricht rintheroot!" + +"Lat the bairn be, Maister Bruce," said Tibbie. "She's doin' the Lord's +will, whether ye may think it or no. She's visitin' them 'at's i' the +prison-hoose o' the dark. She's ministerin' to them 'at hae mony +preeviledges nae doot, but hae room for mair." + +"I'm no saying naething," said Bruce. + +"Ye are sayin'. Ye're offendin' ane o' his little anes. Tak ye tent o' +the millstane." + +"Hoot toot! Tibbie. I was only wissin 'at she wad keep a sma' part o' +her ministrations for her ain hame and her ain fowk 'at has the +ministerin' to her. There's the mistress and me jist mairtyrs to that +chop! And there's the bit infant in want o' some _ministration_ noo and +than, gin that be what ye ca' 't." + +A grim compression of the mouth was all Tibbie's reply. She did not +choose to tell Robert Bruce that although she was blind--and probably +_because_ she was blind--she heard rather more gossip than anybody else +in Glamerton, and that consequently his appeal to her sympathy had no +effect upon her. Finding she made no other answer, Bruce turned to +Annie. + +"Noo, Annie," said he, "ye're nae wantit here ony langer. I hae a word +or twa to say to Tibbie. Gang hame and learn yer lessons for the morn." + +"It's Setterday nicht," answered Annie. + +"But ye hae yer lessons to learn for the Mononday." + +"Ow ay! But I hae a buik or twa to tak' hame to Mistress Forbes. And I +daursay I'll bide, and come to the kirk wi' her i' the mornin'." + +Now, although all that Bruce wanted was to get rid of her, he went on +to oppose her; for common-minded people always feel that they give the +enemy an advantage if they show themselves content. + +"It's no safe to rin aboot i' the mirk (dark). It's dingin' on forbye. +Ye'll be a' wat, and maybe fa' into the dam. Ye couldna see yer han' +afore yer face--ance oot o' the toon." + +"I ken the road to Mistress Forbes's as weel's the road up your +garret-stairs, Mr Bruce." + +"Ow nae doobt!" he answered, with a sneering acerbity peculiar to him, +in which his voice seemed sharpened and concentrated to a point by the +contraction of his lips. "And there's tykes aboot," he added, +remembering Annie's fear of dogs. + +But by this time Annie, gentle as she was, had got a little angry. + +"The Lord'll tak care o' me frae the dark and the tykes, and the lave +o' ye, Mr Bruce," she said. + +And bidding Tibbie good-night, she took up her books, and departed, to +wade through the dark and the snow, trembling lest some unseen _tyke_ +should lay hold of her as she went. + +As soon as she was gone, Bruce proceeded to make himself agreeable to +Tibbie by retailing all the bits of gossip he could think of. While +thus engaged, he kept peering earnestly about the room from door to +chimney, turning his head on every side, and surveying as he turned it. +Even Tibbie perceived, from the changes in the sound of his voice, that +he was thus occupied. + +"Sae your auld landlord's deid, Tibbie!" he said at last. + +"Ay, honest man! He had aye a kin' word for a poor body." + +"Ay, ay, nae doobt. But what wad ye say gin I tell't ye that I had +boucht the bit hoosie, and was yer new landlord, Tibbie?" + +"I wad say that the door-sill wants men'in', to haud the snaw oot; an' +the bit hoosie's sair in want o' new thack. The verra cupples'll be +rottit awa' or lang." + +"Weel that's verra rizzonable, nae doobt, gin a' be as ye say." + +"Be as I say, Robert Bruce?" + +"Ay, ay; ye see ye're nae a'thegither like ither fowk. I dinna mean ony +offence, ye ken, Tibbie; but ye haena the sicht o' yer een." + +"Maybe I haena the feelin' o' my auld banes, aither, Maister Bruce! +Maybe I'm ower blin' to hae the rheumatize; or to smell the auld weet +thack whan there's been a scatterin' o' snaw or a drappy o' rain o' the +riggin'!" + +"I didna want to anger ye, Tibbie. A' that ye say deserves attention. +It would be a shame to lat an auld body like you--" + +"No that auld, Maister Bruce, gin ye kent the trowth!" + +"Weel, ye're no ower young to need to be ta'en guid care o'--are ye, +Tibbie?" + +Tibbie grunted. + +"Weel, to come to the pint. There's nae doobt the hoose wants a hantle +o' doctorin'." + +"'Deed does't," interposed Tibbie. "It'll want a new door. For forbye +'at the door's maist as wide as twa ordinar doors, it was ance in twa +halves like a chop-door. And they're ill jined thegither, and the win' +comes throu like a knife, and maist cuts a body in twa. Ye see the bit +hoosie was ance the dyer's dryin' hoose, afore he gaed further doon the +watter." + +"Nae doobt ye're richt, Tibbie. But seein' that I maun lay oot sae +muckle, I'll be compelled to pit anither thrippence on to the rent." + +"Ither thrippence, Robert Bruce! That's three thrippences i' the ook in +place o' twa. That's an unco rise! Ye canna mean what ye say! It's a' +that I'm able to do to pay my saxpence. An auld blin' body like me +disna fa' in wi' saxpences whan she gangs luikin aboot wi' her lang +fingers for a pirn or a prin that she's looten fa'." + +"But ye do a heap o' spinnin', Tibbie, wi' thae lang fingers. There's +naebody in Glamerton spins like ye." + +"Maybe ay and maybe no. It's no muckle that that comes till. I wadna +spin sae weel gin it warna that the Almichty pat some sicht into the +pints o' my fingers, 'cause there was nane left i' my een. An' gin ye +mak ither thrippence a week oot o' that, ye'll be turnin' the wather +that He sent to ca my mill into your dam; an' I doot it'll play ill +water wi' your wheels." + +"Hoot, hoot! Tibbie, woman! It gangs sair against me to appear to be +hard-hertit." + +"I hae nae doobt. Ye dinna want to _appear_ sae. But do ye ken that I +mak sae little by the spinnin' ye mak sae muckle o', that the kirk +alloos me a shillin' i' the week to mak up wi'? And gin it warna for +kin' frien's, it's ill livin' I wad hae in dour weather like this. +Dinna ye imaigine, Mr Bruce, that I hae a pose o' my ain. I hae +naething ava, excep' sevenpence in a stockin'-fit. And it wad hae to +come aff o' my tay or something ither 'at I wad ill miss." + +"Weel, that may be a' verra true," rejoined Bruce; "but a body maun hae +their ain for a' that. Wadna the kirk gie ye the ither thrippence?" + +"Do ye think I wad tak frae the kirk to pit into your till?" + +"Weel, say saivenpence, than, and we'll be quits." + +"I tell ye what, Robert Bruce: raither nor pay ye one bawbee more nor +the saxpence, I'll turn oot i' the snaw, and lat the Lord luik efter +me." + +Robert Bruce went away, and did not purchase the cottage, which was in +the market at a low price, He had intended Tibbie to believe, as she +did, that he had already bought it; and if she had agreed to pay even +the sevenpence, he would have gone from her to secure it. + +On her way to Howglen, Annie pondered on the delight of Tibbie--Tibbie +Dyster who had never seen the "human face divine"--when she should see +the face of Jesus Christ, most likely the first face she would see. +Then she turned to what Tibbie had said about knowing light from +knowing the Saviour. There must be some connection between what Tibbie +said and what Thomas had said about the face of God. There was a text +that said "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." So she was +sure that the light that was in a Christian, whatever it meant, must +come from the face of God. And so what Thomas said and what Tibbie said +might be only different ways of saying the same thing. + +Thus she was in a measure saved from the perplexity which comes of any +_one_ definition of the holy secret, compelling a man to walk in a way +between walls, instead of in a path across open fields. + +There was no day yet in which Annie did not think of her old champion +with the same feeling of devotion which his championship had first +aroused, although all her necessities, hopes, and fears were now beyond +any assistance he could render. She was far on in a new path: he was +loitering behind, out of hearing, He would not have dared to call her +solicitude nonsense; but he would have set down all such matters as +belonging to women, rather than youths beginning the world. The lessons +of Thomas Crann were not despised, for he never thought about them. He +began to look down upon all his past, and, in it, upon his old +companions. Since knowing Kate, who had more delicate habits and ways +than he had ever seen, he had begun to refine his own modes concerning +outside things; and in his anxiety to be like her, while he became more +polished, he became less genial and wide-hearted. + +But none of his old friends forgot him. I believe not a day passed in +which Thomas did not pray for him in secret, naming him by his name, +and lingering over it mournfully--"Alexander Forbes--the young man that +I thocht wad hae been pluckit frae the burnin' afore noo. But thy +time's the best, O Lord. It's a' thy wark; an' there's no good thing in +us. And thou canst turn the hert o' man as the rivers o' water. And +maybe thou hast gi'en him grace to repent already, though I ken +naething aboot it." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLV. + + +This had been a sore winter for Thomas, and he had had plenty of +leisure for prayer. For, having gone up on a scaffold one day to see +that the wall he was building was properly protected from the rain, he +slipped his foot on a wet pole, and fell to the ground, whence, being a +heavy man, he was lifted terribly shaken, besides having one of his +legs broken. Not a moan escaped him--a murmur was out of the question. +They carried him home, and the surgeon did his best for him. Nor, +although few people liked him much, was he left unvisited in his +sickness. The members of his own religious community recognized their +obligation to minister to him; and they would have done more, had they +guessed how poor he was. Nobody knew how much he gave away in other +directions; but they judged of his means by the amount he was in the +habit of putting into the plate at the chapel-door every Sunday. There +was never much of the silvery shine to be seen in the heap of copper, +but one of the gleaming sixpences was almost sure to have dropped from +the hand of Thomas Crann. Not that this generosity sprung altogether +from disinterested motives; for the fact was, that he had a morbid fear +of avarice; a fear I believe not altogether groundless; for he was +independent in his feelings almost to fierceness--certainly to +ungraciousness; and this strengthened a natural tendency to saving and +hoarding. The consciousness of this tendency drove him to the other +extreme. Jean, having overheard him once cry out in an agony, "Lord, +hae mercy upo' me, and deliver me frae this love o' money, which is the +root of all evil," watched him in the lobby of the chapel the next +Sunday--"and as sure's deith," said Jean--an expression which it was +weel for her that Thomas did not hear--"he pat a siller shillin' into +the plate that day, mornin' _an'_ nicht." + +"Tak' care hoo ye affront him, whan ye tak' it," said Andrew Constable +to his wife, who was setting out to carry him some dish of her own +cooking--for Andrew's wife belonged to the missionars--"for weel ye ken +Thamas likes to be unner obligation to nane but the Lord himsel'." + +"Lea' ye that to me, Anerew, my man. You 'at's rouch men disna ken hoo +to do a thing o' that sort. I s' manage Thamas weel eneuch. I ken the +nater o' him." + +And sure enough he ate it up at once, that she might take the dish back +with her. + +Annie went every day to ask after him, and every day had a kind +reception from Jean, who bore her no grudge for the ignominious +treatment of Thomas on that evening memorable to Annie. At length, one +day, after many weeks, Jean asked her if she would not like to see him. + +"Ay wad I; richt weel," answered she. + +Jean led her at once into Thomas's room, where he lay in a bed in the +wall. He held out his hand. Annie could hardly be said to take it, but +she put hers into it, saying timidly, + +"Is yer leg verra sair, Thamas?" + +"Ow na, dawtie; nae noo. The Lord's been verra mercifu'--jist like +himsel'." It was ill to bide for a while whan I cudna sleep. But I jist +sleep noo like ane o' the beloved." + +"I was richt sorry for ye, Thamas." + +"Ay, Ye've a kin' hert, lassie. And I canna help thinkin'--they may say +what they like--but I canna help thinkin' that the Lord was sorry for +me himsel'. It cam' into my heid as I lay here ae nicht, an' cudna +sleep a wink, and cudna rist, and yet daurna muv for my broken hough. +And as sune's that cam' into my heid I was sae upliftit, 'at I forgot +a' aboot my leg, and begud, or ever I kent, to sing the hunner and +saivent psalm. And syne whan the pain cam' back wi' a terrible stoon, I +jist amaist leuch; an I thoucht that gin he wad brack me a' to bits, I +wad never cry _haud_, nor turn my finger to gar him stent. Noo, ye're +ane o' the Lord's bairns--" + +"Eh! I dinna ken," cried Annie, half-terrified at such an assurance +from Thomas, and the responsibility devolved on her thereby, and yet +delighted beyond expression. + +"Ay are ye," continued Thomas confidently; "and I want to ken what ye +think aboot it. Do ye think it was a wrang thocht to come into my +heid?" + +"Hoo could that be, Thomas, whan it set ye a singin'--and sic a +psalm--'O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness?'" + +"The Lord be praised ance mair!" exclaimed Thomas. "'Oot o' the mooth +o' babes and sucklin's!'--no that ye're jist that, Annie, but ye're no +muckle mair. Sit ye doon aside me, and rax ower to the Bible, and jist +read that hunner and saivent psalm. Eh, lassie! but the Lord is guid. +Oh! that men wad praise him! An' to care for the praises o' sic worms +as me! What richt hae I to praise him?" + +"Ye hae the best richt, Thomas, for hasna he been good to ye?["] + +"Ye're richt, lassie, ye're richt. It's wonnerfu' the common sense o' +bairns. Gin ye wad jist lat the Lord instruck them! I doobt we mak ower +little o' them. Nae doobt they're born in sin, and brocht farth in +iniquity; but gin they repent ear', they win far aheid o' the auld +fowk." + +Thomas's sufferings had made him more gentle--and more sure of Annie's +election. He was one on whom affliction was not thrown away.--Annie saw +him often after this, and he never let her go without reading a chapter +to him, his remarks upon which were always of some use to her, +notwithstanding the limited capacity and formal shape of the doctrinal +moulds in which they were cast; for wherever there is genuine religious +feeling and _experience_, it will now and then crack the prisoning +pitcher, and let some brilliant ray of the indwelling glory out, to +discomfit the beleaguering hosts of troublous thoughts. + +Although the framework of Thomas was roughly hewn, he had always been +subject to such fluctuations of feeling as are more commonly found +amongst religious women. Sometimes, notwithstanding the visions of the +face of God "vouchsafed to him from the mercy-seat," as he would say, +he would fall into fits of doubting whether he was indeed one of the +elect; for how then could he be so hard-hearted, and so barren of good +thoughts and feelings as he found himself? At such times he was subject +to an irritation of temper, alternately the cause and effect of his +misery, upon which, with all his efforts, he was only capable yet of +putting a very partial check. Woe to the person who should then dare to +interrupt his devotions! If Jean, who had no foresight or anticipation +of consequences, should, urged by some supposed necessity of the case, +call to him through the door bolted against Time and its concerns, the +saint who had been kneeling before God in utter abasement, +self-contempt, and wretchedness, would suddenly wrench it open, a +wrathful, indignant man, boiling brimful of angry words and unkind +objurgations, through all which would be manifest, notwithstanding, a +certain unhappy restraint. Having driven the enemy away in confusion, +he would bolt his door again, and return to his prayers in two-fold +misery, conscious of guilt increased by unrighteous anger, and so of +yet another wall of separation raised between him and his God. + +Now this weakness all but disappeared during the worst of his illness, +to return for a season with increased force when his recovery had +advanced so far as to admit of his getting out of bed. Children are +almost always cross when recovering from an illness, however patient +they may have been during its severest moments; and the phenomenon is +not by any means confined to children. + +A deacon of the church, a worthy little weaver, had been +half-officially appointed to visit Thomas, and find out, which was not +an easy task, if he was in want of anything. When he arrived, Jean was +out. He lifted the latch, entered, and tapped gently at Thomas's +door--too gently, for he received no answer. With hasty yet hesitating +imprudence, he opened the door and peeped in. Thomas was upon his knees +by the fire-side, with his plaid over his head. Startled by the +weaver's entrance, he raised his head, and his rugged leonine face, red +with wrath, glared out of the thicket of his plaid upon the intruder. +He did not rise, for that would have been a task requiring time and +caution. But he cried aloud in a hoarse voice, with his two hands +leaning on the chair, like the paws of some fierce rampant animal: + +"Jeames, ye're takin' the pairt o' Sawton upo' ye, drivin' a man frae +his prayers!" + +"Hoot, Thamas! I beg yer pardon," answered the weaver, rather flurried; +"I thoucht ye micht hae been asleep." + +"Ye had no business to think for yersel' in sic a maitter. What do ye +want?" + +"I jist cam' to see whether _ye_ war in want o' onything, Thamas." + +"I'm in want o' naething. Gude nicht to ye." + +"But, railly, Thamas," expostulated the weaver, emboldened by his own +kindness--"ye'll excuse me, but ye hae nae business to gang doon on yer +knees wi' yer leg in sic a weyk condeetion." + +"I winna excuse ye, Jeames. What ken ye aboot my leg? And what's the +use o' knees, but to gang doon upo'? Gang hame, and gang doon upo' yer +ain, Jeames; and dinna disturb ither fowk that ken what theirs was made +for." + +Thus admonished, the weaver dared not linger. As he turned to shut the +door, he wished the mason good night, but received no answer. Thomas +had sunk forward upon the chair, and had already drawn his plaid over +his head. + +But the secret place of the Most High will not be entered after this +fashion; and Thomas felt that he was shut out. It is not by driving +away our brother that we can be alone with God. Thomas's plaid could +not isolate him with his Maker, for communion with God is never +isolation. In such a mood, the chamber with the shut door shuts out God +too, and one is left alone with himself, which is the outer darkness. +The love of the brethren opens the door into God's chamber, which is +within ours. So Thomas--who was far enough from hating his brother, who +would have struggled to his feet and limped to do him a service, though +he would not have held out his hand to receive one, for he was only +good, not gracious--Thomas, I say, felt worse than ever, and more as if +God had forgotten him, than he had felt for many a day. He knelt still +and sighed sore. + +At length another knock came, which although very gentle, he heard and +knew well enough. + +"Who's there?" he asked, notwithstanding, with a fresh access of +indignant feeling. + +"Annie Anderson," was the answer through the door, in a tone which at +once soothed the ruffled waters of Thomas's spirit. + +"Come in," he said. + +She entered, quiet as a ghost. + +"Come awa', Annie. I'm glaid to see ye. Jist come and kneel doon aside +me, and we'll pray thegither, for I'm sair troubled wi' an ill-temper." + +Without a word of reply, Annie kneeled by the side of his chair. Thomas +drew the plaid over her head, took her hand, which was swallowed up in +his, and after a solemn pause, spoke thus: + +"O Lord, wha dwellest in the licht inaccessible, whom mortal eye hath +not seen nor can see, but who dwellest with him that is humble and +contrite of heart, and liftest the licht o' thy coontenance upo' them +that seek it, O Lord,"--here the solemnity of the appeal gave way +before the out-bursting agony of Thomas's heart--"O Lord, dinna lat's +cry in vain, this thy lammie, and me, thine auld sinner, but, for the +sake o' him wha did no sin, forgive my sins and my vile temper, and +help me to love my neighbour as mysel'. Lat Christ dwell in me and syne +I shall be meek and lowly of heart like him. Put thy speerit in me, and +syne I shall do richt--no frae mysel', for I hae no good thing in me, +but frae thy speerit that dwelleth in us." + +After this prayer, Thomas felt refreshed and hopeful. With slow labour +he rose from his knees at last, and sinking into his chair, drew Annie +towards him, and kissed her. Then he said, + +"Will ye gang a bit eeran' for me, Annie?" + +"That I will, Thomas. I wad rin mysel' aff o' my legs for ye." + +"Na, na. I dinna want sae muckle rinnin' the nicht. But I wad be sair +obleeged to ye gin ye wad jist rin doon to Jeames Johnstone, the +weyver, and tell him, wi' my coampliments, ye ken, that I'm verra sorry +I spak' till him as I did the nicht; and I wad tak it richt kin' o' him +gin he wad come and tak a cup o' tay wi' me the morn's nicht, and we +cud hae a crack thegither, and syne we cud hae worship thegither. And +tell him he maunna think nae mair o' the way I spak' till him, for I +was troubled i' my min', and I'm an ill-nater'd man." + +"I'll tell him a' that ye say," answered Annie, "as weel's I can min' +'t; and I s' warran' I s' no forget muckle o' 't. Wad ye like me to +come back the nicht and tell ye what he says?" + +"Na, na, lassie. It'll be nearhan' time for ye to gang to yer bed. And +it's a cauld nicht. I ken that by my leg. And ye see Jeames Johnstone's +no an ill-nater'd man like me. He's a douce man, and he's sure to be +weel-pleased and come till's tay. Na, na; ye needna come back. Guid +nicht to ye, my dawtie. The Lord bless ye for comin' to pray wi' an +ill-nater'd man." + +Annie sped upon her mission of love through the murky streets and lanes +of Glamerton, as certainly a divine messenger as any seraph crossing +the blue empyrean upon level wing. And if any one should take exception +to this, on the ground that she sought her own service and neglected +home duties, I would, although my object has not been to set her forth +as an exemplar, take the opportunity of asking whether to sleep in a +certain house and be at liberty to take one's meals there, be +sufficient to make it home, and the source of home-obligations--to +indicate the will of God as to _the_ region of one's labour, other +regions lying open at the same time. Ought Annie to have given her aid +as a child where there was no parental recognition of the +relationship--an aid whose value in the eyes of the Bruces would have +consisted in the leisure it gave to Mrs Bruce for ministering more +devotedly in the temple of Mammon? I put the question, not quite sure +what the answer ought to be. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI. + + +Now that Kate had got a companion, Alec never saw her alone. But he had +so much the better opportunity of knowing her. Miss Warner was a nice, +open-eyed, fair-faced English girl, with pleasant manners, and plenty +of speech; and although more shy than Kate--English girls being +generally more shy than Scotch girls--was yet ready enough to take her +share in conversation. Between the two, Alec soon learned how ignorant +he was in the things that most interest girls. Classics and mathematics +were not _very_ interesting to himself, and anatomy was not available. +He soon perceived that they were both fond of poetry; but if it was not +the best poetry, he was incapable of telling them so, although the few +lessons he had had were from a better mistress than either of them, and +with some better examples than they had learned to rejoice in. + +The two girls had got hold of some volumes of Byron, and had read them +together at school, chiefly after retiring to the chamber they shared +together. The consequences were an unbounded admiration and a facility +of reference, with the use of emotional adjectives. Alec did not know a +single poem of that writer, except the one about the Assyrian coming +down like a wolf on the fold. + +Determined, however, not to remain incapable of sympathizing with them, +he got copies of the various poems from the library of the college, and +for days studied Byron and anatomy--nothing else. Like all other young +men, he was absorbed, entranced, with the poems. Childe Harold he could +not read, but the tales were one fairy region after another. Their +power over young people is remarkable, but not more remarkable than the +fact that they almost invariably lose this power over the individual, +while they have as yet retained it over the race; for of all the +multitude which does homage at the shrine of the poet few linger long, +and fewer still, after the turmoil of life has yielded room for +thought, renew their homage. Most of those who make the attempt are +surprised--some of them troubled--at the discovery that the shrine can +work miracles no more. The Byron-fever is in fact a disease belonging +to youth, as the hooping-cough to childhood,--working some occult good +no doubt in the end. It has its origin, perhaps, in the fact that the +poet makes no demand either on the intellect or the conscience, but +confines himself to friendly intercourse with those passions whose +birth long precedes that of choice in their objects--whence a wealth of +emotion is squandered. It is long before we discover that far richer +feeling is the result of a regard bent on the profound and the pure. + +Hence the chief harm the poems did Alec, consisted in the rousing of +his strongest feelings towards imaginary objects of inferior +excellence, with the necessary result of a tendency to measure the +worth of the passions themselves by their strength alone, and not by +their character--by their degree, and not by their kind. That they were +the forge-bellows, supplying the blast of the imagination to the fire +of love in which his life had begun to be remodelled, is not to be +counted among their injurious influences. + +He had never hitherto meddled with his own thoughts or feelings--had +lived an external life to the most of his ability. Now, through falling +in love, and reading Byron, he began to know the existence of a world +of feeling, if not of thought; while his attempts at conversation with +the girls had a condensing if not crystallizing influence upon the +merely vaporous sensations which the poetry produced. All that was +wanted to give full force to the other influences in adding its own, +was the presence of the sultry evenings of summer, with the thunder +gathering in the dusky air. The cold days and nights of winter were now +swathing that brain, through whose aerial regions the clouds of +passion, driven on many shifting and opposing winds, were hurrying +along to meet in human thunder and human rain. + +I will not weary my readers with the talk of three young people +enamoured of Byron. Of course the feelings the girls had about him +differed materially from those of Alec; so that a great many of the +replies and utterances met like unskilful tilters, whose staves passed +wide. In neither was the admiration much more than an uneasy delight in +the vivid though indistinct images of pleasure raised by the magic of +that "physical force of words" in which Byron excels all other English +poets, and in virtue of which, I presume, the French persist in +regarding Byron as our greatest poet, and in supposing that we agree +with them. + +Alec gained considerably with Kate from becoming able to talk about her +favourite author, while she appeared to him more beautiful than +ever--the changes in the conversation constantly bringing out new +phases on her changeful countenance. He began to discover now what I +have already ventured to call the _fluidity_ of her expression; for he +was almost startled every time he saw her, by finding her different +from what he had expected to find her. Jean Paul somewhere makes a +lamentation over the fact that girls will never meet you in the morning +with the same friendliness with which they parted from you the night +before. But this was not the kind of change Alec found. She behaved +with perfect evenness to him, but always _looked_ different, so that he +felt as if he could never know her quite--which was a just conclusion, +and might have been arrived at upon less remarkable though more +important grounds. Occasionally he would read something of Byron's; and +it was a delight to him such as he had never known before, to see +Kate's strangely beautiful eyes flash with actual visible fire as he +read, or cloud over with mist and fill slowly with the dew of feeling. +No doubt he took more of the credit than belonged to him--which was +greedy, seeing poor Byron had none of the pleasure. + +Had it not been for the help Mr Cupples gave him towards the end of the +session, he would have made a poor figure both in Greek and +mathematics. But he was so filled with the phantasm of Kate Fraser, +that, although not insensible of his obligation to Mr Cupples, he +regarded it lightly; and, ready to give his life for a smile from Kate, +took all his kindness, along with his drunken wisdom, as a matter of +course. + +And when he next saw Annie and Curly, he did not speak to them quite so +heartily as on his former return. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII. + + +In one or two of his letters, which were never very long, Alec had just +mentioned Kate; and now Mrs Forbes had many inquiries to make about +her. Old feelings and thoughts awoke in her mind, and made her wish to +see the daughter of her old companion. The absence of Annie, banished +once more at the suggestion of worldly prudence, but for whose quiet +lunar smile not even Alec's sunny presence could quite make up, +contributed no doubt to this longing after the new maiden. She wrote to +Mr Fraser, asking him to allow his niece to pay her a visit of a few +weeks; but she said nothing about it to Alec. The arrangement happened +to be convenient to Mr Fraser, who wished to accept an invitation +himself. It was now the end of April; and he proposed that the time +should be fixed for the beginning of June. + +When this favourable response arrived, Mrs Forbes gave Alec the letter +to read, and saw the flush of delight that rose to his face as he +gathered the welcome news. Nor was this observation unpleasant to her; +for that Alec should at length marry one of her own people was a +grateful idea. + +Alec sped away into the fields. To think that all these old familiar +places would one day be glorified by her presence! that the daisies +would bend beneath the foot of the goddess! and the everlasting hills +put on a veil of tenderness from the reflex radiance of her regard! A +flush of summer mantled over the face of nature, the flush of a deeper +summer than that of the year--of the joy that lies at the heart of all +summers. For a whole week of hail, sleet, and "watery sunbeams" +followed, and yet in the eyes of Alec the face of nature still glowed. + +When, after long expectation, the day arrived, Alec could not rest. He +wandered about all day, haunting his mother as she prepared his room +for Kate, hurrying away with a sudden sense of the propriety of +indifference, and hurrying back on some cunning pretext, while his +mother smiled to herself at his eagerness and the transparency of his +artifice. At length, as the hour drew near, he could restrain himself +no longer. He rushed to the stable, saddled his pony, which was in +nearly as high spirits as himself, and galloped off to meet the mail. +The sun was nearing the west; a slight shower had just fallen; the +thanks of the thirsty earth were ascending in odour; and the wind was +too gentle to shake the drops from the leaves. To Alec, the wind of his +own speed was the river that bore her towards him; the odours were +wafted from her approach; and the sunset sleepiness around was the +exhaustion of the region that longed for her Cyther�an presence. + +At last, as he turned a corner of the road, there was the coach; and he +had just time to wheel his pony about before it was up with him. A +little gloved hand greeted him; the window was let down; and the face +he had been longing for shone out lovelier than ever. There was no +inside passenger but herself; and, leaning with one hand on the +coach-door, he rode alongside till they drew near the place where the +gig was waiting for them, when he dashed on, gave his pony to the man, +was ready to help her as soon as the coach stopped, and so drove her +home in triumph to his mother. + +Where the coach stopped, on the opposite side of the way, a grassy +field, which fell like a mantle from the shoulders of a hill crowned +with firs, sloped down to the edge of the road. From the coach, the sun +was hidden behind a thick clump of trees, but his rays, now red with +rich age, flowed in a wide stream over the grass, and shone on an old +Scotch fir which stood a yard or two from the highway, making its red +bark glow like the pools which the prophet saw in the desert. At the +foot of this tree sat Tibbie Dyster; and from her red cloak the level +sun-tide was thrown back in gorgeous glory; so that the eyeless woman, +who only felt the warmth of the great orb, seemed, in her effulgence of +luminous red, to be the light-fountain whence that torrent of +rubescence burst. From her it streamed up to the stem and along the +branches of the glowing fir; from her it streamed over the radiant +grass of the up-sloping field away towards the western sun. But the +only one who saw the splendour was a shoemaker, who rubbed his rosiny +hands together, and felt happy without knowing why. + +Alec would have found it difficult to say whether or not he had seen +the red cloak. But from the shadowy side of it there were eyes shining +upon him, with a deeper and truer, if with a calmer, or, say, colder +devotion, than that with which he regarded Kate. The most powerful rays +that fall from the sun are neither those of colour nor those of +heat.--Annie sat by Tibbie's side--the side away from the sun. If the +East and the West might take human shape--come forth in their Oreads +from their hill-tops, and meet half-way between--there they were seated +side by side: Tibbie, old, scarred, blind Tibbie, was of the west and +the sunset, the centre of a blood-red splendour; cold, gentle Annie, +with her dark hair, blue eyes, and the sad wisdom of her pale face, was +of the sun-deserted east, between whose gray clouds, faintly smiling +back the rosiness of the sun's triumphal death, two or three cold stars +were waiting to glimmer. + +Tibbie had come out to bask a little, and, in the dark warmth of the +material sun, to worship that Sun whose light she saw in the hidden +world of her heart, and who is the Sun of all the worlds; to breathe +the air, which, through her prison-bars, spoke of freedom; to give +herself room to long for the hour when the loving Father would take her +out of the husk which infolded her, and say to her: "_See, my child_." +With the rest of the travailing creation, she was groaning in hopeful +pain--not in the pain of the mother, but in the pain of the child, soon +to be forgotten in the following rest. + +If my younger readers want to follow Kate and Alec home, they will take +it for a symptom of the chill approach of "unlovely age," that I say to +them: 'We will go home with Tibbie and Annie, and hear what they say. I +like better to tell you about ugly blind old Tibbie than about +beautiful young Kate.--But you shall have your turn. Do not think that +we old people do not care for what you care for. We want more than you +want--a something without which what you like best cannot last.' + +"What did the coch stop for, Annie, lass?" asked Tibbie, as soon as the +mail had driven on. + +"It's a lady gaein to Mistress Forbes's at Howglen." + +"Hoo ken ye that?" + +"'Cause Alec Forbes rade oot to meet her, and syne took her hame i' the +gig." + +"Ay! ay! I thought I heard mair nor the ordinar nummer o' horse-feet as +the coch cam' up. He's a braw lad, that Alec Forbes�isna he?" + +"Ay is he," answered Annie, sadly; not from jealousy, for her +admiration of Alec was from afar; but as looking up from purgatorial +exclusion to the paradise of Howglen, where the beautiful lady would +have all Mrs Forbes, and Alec too, to herself. + +The old woman caught the tone, but misinterpreted it. + +"I doobt," she said, "he winna get ony guid at that college." + +"What for no?" returned Annie. "I was at the school wi' him, and never +saw onything to fin' fau't wi'." + +"Ow na, lassie. Ye had naething to do fin'in' fau't wi' him. His father +was a douce man, an' maybe a God-fearin' man, though he made but sma' +profession. I think we're whiles ower sair upo' some o' them that +promises little, and maybe does the mair. Ye min' what ye read to me +afore we cam' oot thegither, aboot the lad that said till's father, +_I go not_; but afterwards he repented and gaed?" + +"Ay." + +"Weel, I think we'll gang hame noo." + +They rose, and went, hand in hand, over the bridge, and round the end +of its parapet, and down the steep descent to the cottage at its foot, +Tibbie's cloak shining all the way, but, now that the sun was down, +with a chastened radiance. When she had laid it aside, and was seated +on her low wooden chair within reach of her spinning-wheel, + +"Noo," said Tibbie, "ye'll jist read a chapter till me, lassie, afore +ye gang hame, and syne I s' gang to my bed. Blin'ness is a sair savin' +o' can'les." + +She forgot that it was summer, when, in those northern regions, the +night has no time to gather before the sun is flashing again in the +east. + +The chapter Annie chose was the ninth of St John's Gospel, about Jesus +curing the man blind from his birth. When she had finished, Annie said, + +"Michtna he cure you, Tibbie, gin ye spiered at him?" + +"Ay micht he, and ay will he," answered Tibbie. "I'm only jist bidin' +his time. But I'm thinkin' he'll cure me better yet nor he cured that +blin' man. He'll jist tak' the body aff o' me a'thegither, and syne +I'll see, no wi' een like yours, but wi' my haill speeritual body. Ye +min' that verse i' the prophecees o' Ezakiel: I ken't weel by hert. It +says: 'And their whole boady, and their backs, and their han's, and +their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes roon aboot, even the +wheels that they four had.' Isna that a gran' text? I wiss Mr Turnbull +wad tak' it into his heid to preach frae that text sometime afore it +comes, which winna be that lang, I'm thinkin'. The wheels'll be +stoppin' at my door or lang." + +"What gars ye think that, Tibbie? There's no sign o' deith aboot you, +I'm sure," said Annie. + +"Weel, ye see, I canna weel say. Blin' fowk somehoo kens mair nor ither +fowk aboot things that the sicht o' the een has unco little to do wi'. +But never min'. I'm willin' to bide i' the dark as lang as He likes. +It's eneuch for ony bairn to ken that its father's stan'in' i' the +licht, and seein' a' aboot him, and sae weel able to guide hit, though +it kensna whaur to set doon its fit neist. And I wat He's i' the licht. +Ye min' that bit aboot the Lord pittin' Moses intil a clift o' the +rock, and syne coverin' him wi' his han' till he was by him?" + +"Ay, fine that," answered Annie. + +"Weel, I canna help thinkin' whiles, that the dark aboot me's jist the +how o' the Lord's han'; and I'm like Moses, only wi' this differ, that +whan the Lord tak's his han' aff o' me, it'll be to lat me luik i' the +face o' him, and no to lat me see only his back pairts, which was a' +that he had the sicht o'; for ye see Moses was i' the body, and cudna +bide the sicht o' the face o' God. I daursay it wad hae blin' 't him. I +hae heard that ower muckle licht'll ca fowk blin' whiles. What think +ye, lassie?" + +"Ay; the lichtnin' blin's fowk whiles. And gin I luik straucht at the +sun, I can see nothing efter't for a whilie." + +"I tell ye sae!" exclaimed Tibbie triumphantly. "And do ye min' the +veesion that the apostle John saw in Pawtmos? I reckon he micht hae +thocht lang there, a' him lane, gin it hadna been for the bonnie +things, and the gran' things, and the terrible things 'at the Lord loot +him see. They _war_ gran' sichts! It was the veesion o' the Saviour +himsel'--Christ himsel'; and he says that his coontenance was as the +sun shineth in his strength. What think ye o' that, lass!" + +This was not a question, but an exulting exclamation. The vision in +Patmos proved that although Moses must not see the face of God because +of its brightness, a more favoured prophet might have the vision. And +Tibbie, who had a share in the privileges of the new covenant, who was +not under the law like Moses, but under grace like John, would one day +see the veil of her blindness shrivel away from before her deeper eyes, +burnt up by the glory of that face of God, which is a consuming +fire.--I suppose that Tibbie was right in the main. But was it not +another kind of brightness, a brightness without effulgence, a +brightness grander and more glorious, shining in love and patience, and +tenderness and forgiveness and excuse, that Moses was unfit to see, +because he was not well able to understand it, until, ages after, he +descended from heaven upon the Mount of Transfiguration, and the humble +son of God went up from the lower earth to meet him there, and talk +with him face to face as a man with his friend? + +Annie went home to her garret. It was a singular experience the child +had in the changes that came to her with the seasons. The winter with +its frost and bitter winds brought her a home at Howglen; the summer, +whose airs were molten kisses, took it away, and gave her the face of +nature instead of the face of a human mother. For the snug little +chamber in which she heard with a quiet exultation the fierce rush of +the hail-scattering tempest against the window, or the fluffy fall of +the snow-flakes, like hands of fairy babies patting the glass, and +fancied herself out in the careering storm, hovering on the wings of +the wind over the house in which she lay soft and warm--she had now the +garret room, in which the curtainless bed, with its bare poles, looked +like a vessel in distress at sea, and through the roof of which the +winds found easy way. But the winds were warm now, and through the +skylight the sunbeams illuminated the floor, showing all the rat-holes +and wretchedness of decay. + +There was comfort out of doors in the daytime--in the sky and the +fields and all the "goings-on of life." And this night, after this talk +with Tibbie, Annie did not much mind going back to the garret. Nor did +she lie awake to think about the beautiful lady Alec had taken home +with him. + +And she dreamed again that she saw the Son of Man. There was a veil +over his face like the veil that Moses wore, but the face was so bright +that it almost melted the veil away, and she saw what made her love +that face more than the presence of Alec, more than the kindness of Mrs +Forbes or Dowie, more than the memory of her father. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII. + + +Alec did not fall asleep so soon. The thought that Kate was in the +house--asleep in the next room, kept him awake. Yet he woke the next +morning earlier than usual. There were bands of golden light upon the +wall, though Kate would not be awake for hours yet. + +He sprung out of bed, and ran to the banks of the Glamour. Upon the +cold morning stream the sun-rays fell slanting and gentle. He plunged +in, and washed the dreams from his eyes with a dive, and a swim under +water. Then he rose to the surface and swam slowly about under the +overhanging willows, and earthy banks hollowed by the river's flow into +cold damp caves, up into the brown shadows of which the water cast a +flickering shimmer. Then he dressed himself, and lay down on the meadow +grass, each blade of which shadowed its neighbour in the slant +sunlight. Cool as it still was with the coldness of the vanished +twilight, it yet felt warm to his bare feet, fresh from the waters that +had crept down through the night from the high moor-lands. He fell fast +asleep, and the sheep came and fed about him, as if he had been one of +themselves. When he woke, the sun was high; and when he reached the +house, he found his mother and Kate already seated at breakfast--Kate +in the prettiest of cotton dresses, looking as fresh and country-like +as the morning itself. The window was open, and through the encircling +ivy, as through a filter of shadows, the air came fresh and cool. +Beyond the shadow of the house lay the sunshine, a warm sea of brooding +glory, of still power; not the power of flashing into storms of +splendour beneath strange winds, but of waking up and cherishing to +beauty the shy life that lay hidden in all remotest corners of the +teeming earth. + +"What are you going to do with Kate to-day, Alec?" said his mother. + +"Whatever Kate likes," answered Alec. + +"I have no choice," returned Kate. "I don't know yet what I have to +choose between. I am in your hands, Alec." + +It was the first time she had called him by his name, and a spear of +sunshine seemed to quiver in his heart. He was restless as a hyena till +she was ready. He then led her to the banks of the river, here low and +grassy, with plenty of wild flowers, and a low babblement everywhere. + +"This is delightful," said Kate. "I will come here as often as you +like, and you shall read to me." + +"What shall I read? Would you like one of Sir Walter's novels?" + +"Just the thing." + +Alec started at full speed for the house. + +"Stop," cried Kate. "You are not going to leave me alone beside +this--talking water?" + +"I thought you liked the water," said Alec. + +"Yes. But I don't want to be left alone beside it. I will go with you, +and get some work." + +She turned away from the stream with a strange backward look, and they +walked home. + +But as Kate showed some disinclination to return to the river-side, +Alec put a seat for her near the house, in the shadow of a silver +birch, and threw himself on the grass at her feet. There he began to +read the _Antiquary_, only half understanding it, in the enchantment of +knowing that he was lying at her feet, and had only to look up to see +her eyes. At noon, Mrs Forbes sent them a dish of curds, and a great +jug of cream, with oatcakes, and butter soft from the churn; and the +rippling shadow of the birch played over the white curds and the golden +butter as they ate. + +Am I not now fairly afloat upon the gentle stream of an idyl? Shall I +watch the banks as they glide past, and record each fairy-headed flower +that looks at its image in the wave? Or shall I mow them down and sweep +them together in a sentence? + +I will gather a few of the flowers, and leave the rest. But first I +will make a remark or two upon the young people. + +Those amongst my readers who have had the happiness to lead innocent +boy-lives, will know what a marvellous delight it was to Alec to have +this girl near him in his own home and his own haunts. He never +speculated on her character or nature, any more than Hamlet did about +those of Ophelia before he was compelled to doubt womankind. His own +principles were existent only in a latent condition, undeveloped from +good impulses and kind sentiments. For instance: he would help any one +whose necessity happened to make an impression upon him, but he never +took pains to enter into the feelings of others--to understand them +from their own point of view: he never had said to himself, "That is +another me." + +Correspondent to this condition were some of Kate's theories of life +and its duties. + +The question came up, whether a certain lady in fiction had done right +in running away with her lover. Mrs Forbes made a rather decided remark +on the subject. Kate said nothing, but her face glowed. + +"Tell us what you think about it, Katie," said Mrs Forbes. + +Katie was silent for a moment. Then with the air of a martyr, from whom +the rack can only extort a fuller confession of his faith--though I +fear she had no deeper gospel at the root of it than Byron had brought +her--she answered: + +"I think a woman must give up everything for love." + +She was then precisely of the same opinion as Jean Paul's Linda in +_Titan_. + +"That is very true, I daresay," said Mrs Forbes; "but I fear you mean +only one kind of love. Does a woman owe no love to her father or mother +because she has a lover?" + +To this plain question Kate made no reply, but her look changed to one +of obstinacy. + +Her mother died when she was a child, and her father had kept himself +shut up in his study, leaving her chiefly to the care of a Shetland +nurse, who told her Scandinavian stories from morning to night, with +invention ever ready to supply any blank in the tablets of her memory. + +Alec thought his mother's opinion the more to be approved, and Kate's +the more to be admired; showing the lack of entireness in his nature, +by thus dissociating the good and the admirable. That which is best +cannot be less admirable than that which is not best. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX. + + +The next day saw Alec walking by the side of Kate mounted on his pony, +up a steep path to the top of one of the highest hills surrounding the +valley. It was a wild hill, with hardly anything growing on it but +heather, which would make it regal with purple in the autumn: no tree +could stand the blasts that blew over that hill in winter. Having +climbed to the topmost point, they stood and gazed. The country lay +outstretched beneath in the glow of the June day, while around them +flitted the cool airs of heaven. Above them rose the soaring blue of +the June sky, with a white cloud or two floating in it, and a blue peak +or two leaning its colour against it. Through the green grass and the +green corn below crept two silvery threads, meeting far away and +flowing in one--the two rivers which watered the valley of +Strathglamour. Between the rivers lay the gray stone town, with its +roofs of thatch and slate. One of its main streets stopped suddenly at +the bridge with the three arches above Tibbie's cottage; and at the +other end of the bridge lay the green fields. + +The landscape was not one of the most beautiful, but it had a beauty of +its own, which is all a country or a woman needs; and Kate sat gazing +about her in evident delight. She had taken off her hat to feel the +wind, and her hair fell in golden heaps upon her shoulders, and the +wind and the sunbeams played at hide-and-seek in it. + +In a moment the pleasure vanished from her face. It clouded over, while +the country lay full in the sun. Her eyes no longer looked wide abroad, +but expressed defeat and retirement. Listlessly she began to gather her +hair together. + +"Do you ever feel as if you could not get room enough, Alec?" she said, +wearily. + +"No, I don't," he answered, honestly and stupidly. "I have always as +much as I want. I should have thought you would--up here." + +"I did feel satisfied for a moment; but it was only a moment. It is all +gone now. I shall never have room enough." + +Alec had nothing to say in reply. He never had anything to give Kate +but love; and now he gave her more love. It was all he was rich in. But +she did not care for his riches. And so, after gazing a while, she +turned towards the descent. Alec picked up her hat, and took his place +at the pony's head. He was not so happy as he thought he should be. +Somehow she was of another order, and he could not understand her--he +could only worship her. + +The whole of the hot afternoon they spent on the grass, whose mottling +of white clover filled the wandering airs with the odours of the honey +of Hymettus. And after tea Kate sang, and Alec drank every tone as if +his soul lived by hearing. + +In this region the sun works long after hours in the summer, and they +went out to see him go down weary. They leaned together over the gate +and looked at the level glory, which now burned red and dim. Lamp of +life, it burns all night long in the eternal night of the universe, to +chase the primeval darkness from the great entrance hall of the "human +mortals." + +"What a long shadow everything throws!" said Kate. "When the shadows +gather all together, and melt into one, then it is night. Look how the +light creeps about the roots of the grass on the ridge, as if it were +looking for something between the shadows. They are both going to die. +Now they begin." + +The sun diminished to a star--a spark of crimson fire, and vanished. As +if he had sunk in a pool of air, and made it overflow, a gentle ripple +of wind blew from the sunset over the grass. They could see the grass +bending and swaying and bathing in its coolness before it came to them. +It blew on their faces at length, and whispered something they could +not understand, making Kate think of her mother, and Alec of Kate. + +Now that same breeze blew upon Tibbie and Annie, as they sat in the +patch of meadow by the cottage, between the river and the _litster's +dam_. It made Tibbie think of death, the opener of sleeping eyes, the +uplifter of hanging hands. For Tibbie's darkness was the shadow of her +grave, on the further border of which the light was breaking in music. +Death and resurrection were the same thing to blind old Tibbie. + +When the gentle, washing wind blew upon Annie, she thought of the wind +that bloweth were it listeth; and that, if ever the Spirit of God blew +upon her, she would feel it just like that wind of summer sunset--so +cool, so blessed, so gentle, so living! And was it not God that +breathed that wind upon her? Was he not even then breathing his Spirit +into the soul of that woman-child? + +It blew upon Andrew Constable, as he stood in his shop-door, the easy +labour of his day all but over. And he said to his little weasel-faced, +_douce_, old-fashioned child who stood leaning against the other +door-cheek: + +"That's a fine caller bit blastie, Isie! Dinna ye like to fin' 't +blawin' upo' yer het cheeks, dawtie?" + +And she answered, + +"Ay, I like it weel, daddie; but it min's me some upo' the winter." + +And Andrew looked anxiously at the pale face of his child, who, at six +years old, in the month of June, had no business to know that there was +any winter. But she was the child of elderly parents, and had not been +born in time; so that she was now in reality about twenty. + +It blew upon Robert Bruce, who had just run out into the _yard_, to see +how his potatoes and cabbages were coming on. He said + +"It's some cauld," and ran in again to put on his hat. + +Alec and Kate, I have said, stood looking into the darkening field. A +great flock of rooks which filled the air with their rooky gossip, was +flying straight home to an old gray ruin just visible amongst some +ancient trees. They had been gathering worms and grubs all day, and now +it was bed time. They felt, through all their black feathers, the +coolness of that evening breeze which came from the cloudy mausoleum +already built over the grave of the down-gone sun. + +Kate hearing them rejoicing far overhead, searched for them in the +darkening sky, found them, and watched their flight, till the black +specks were dissolved in the distance. They are not the most poetic of +birds, but in a darkening country twilight, over silent fields, they +blend into the general tone, till even their noisy caw suggests repose. +But it was room Kate wanted, not rest. She would know one day, however, +that room and rest are the same, and that the longings for both spring +from the same need. + +"What place is that in the trees?" she asked. + +"The old Castle of Glamerton," answered Alec. "Would you like to go and +see it?" + +"Yes; very much." + +"We'll go to-morrow, then." + +"The dew is beginning to fall, Kate," said Mrs Forbes, who now joined +them. "You had better come in." + +Alec lingered behind. An unknown emotion drew his heart towards the +earth. He would see her go to sleep in the twilight, which was now +beginning to brood over her, as with the brown wings of a lovely +dull-hued hen-bird. The daisies were all asleep, spotting the green +grass with stars of carmine; for their closed red tips, like the +finger-points of two fairy hands, tenderly joined together, pointed up +in little cones to keep the yellow stars warm within, that they might +shine bright when the great star of day came to look for them. The +light of the down-gone sun, the garment of Aurora, which, so short +would be her rest, she had not drawn close around her on her couch, +floated up on the horizon, and swept slowly northwards, lightly upborne +on that pale sea of delicate green and gold, to flicker all night +around the northern coast of the sky, and, streaming up in the heavens, +melt at last in the glory of the uprisen Titan. The trees stood still +and shadowy as clouds, but breathing out mysterious odours. The stars +overhead, half-molten away in the ghostly light that would not go, were +yet busy at their night-work, ministering to the dark sides of the +other worlds. There was no moon. A wide stillness and peace, as of a +heart at rest, filled space, and lying upon the human souls with a +persistent quietness that might be felt, made them know what _might_ be +theirs. Now and then a bird sprang out with a sudden tremor of leaves, +suddenly stilled. But the bats came and went in silence, like feelings +yet unembodied in thoughts, vanishing before the sight had time to be +startled at their appearing. All was marvel. And the marvel of all was +there--where the light glimmered faintly through the foliage. He +approached the house with an awe akin to that with which an old poetic +Egyptian drew near to the chamber of the goddess Isis. + +He entered, and his Isis was laughing merrily. + +In the morning, great sun-crested clouds with dark sides hung overhead; +and while they sat at breakfast, one of those glorious showers, each of +whose great drops carries a sun-spark in its heart, fell on the walks +with a tumult of gentle noises, and on the grass almost as silently as +if it had been another mossy cloud. The leaves of the ivy hanging over +the windows quivered and shook, each for itself, beneath the drops; and +between the drops, one of which would have beaten him to the earth, +wound and darted in safety a great humble bee. + +Kate and Alec went to the open window and looked out on the rainy +world, breathing the odours released from the grass and the ground. +Alec turned from the window to Kate's face, and saw upon it a keen, yet +solemn delight. But as he gazed, he saw a cloud come over it. The +arched upper lip dropped sadly upon the other, and she looked troubled +and cold. Instinctively he glanced out again for the cause. The rain +had become thick and small, and a light opposing wind disordered its +descent with broken and crossing lines. + +This change from a summer to a winter rain had altered Kate's mood, and +her face was now, as always, a reflex of the face of nature. + +"Shut the window, please Alec," she said, with a shiver. + +"We'll have a fire directly," said Alec. + +"No, no," returned Kate, trying to smile. "Just fetch me a shawl from +the closet in my room." + +Alec had not been in his own room since Kate came. He entered it with a +kind of gentle awe, and stood just within the door, gazing as if +rebuked. + +From a pair of tiny shoes under the dressing-table, radiated a whole +roomful of feminity. He was almost afraid to go further, and would not +have dared to look in the mirror. In three days her mere presence had +made the room marvellous. + +Recovering himself, he hastened to the cloaet, got the shawl, and went +down the stair three steps at a time. + +"Couldn't you find it, Alec?" said Kate. + +"Oh! yes; I found it at once," answered Alec, blushing to the eyes. + +I wonder whether Kate guessed what made the boy blush. But it does not +matter much now. She did look curiously at him for a moment. + +"Just help me with my shawl," she said. + + + + + + +CHAPTER L. + + +During all this time, Annie had seen scarcely anything of her aunt +Margaret Anderson. Ever since Bruce had offended her, on the occasion +of her first visit, she had taken her custom elsewhere, and had never +even called to see her niece. Annie had met her several times in the +street, and that was all. Hence, on one of the fine afternoons of that +unusually fine summer, and partly, perhaps, from missing the kindness +of Mrs Forbes, Annie took a longing to see her old aunt, and set out +for Clippenstrae to visit her. It was a walk of two miles, chiefly +along the high road, bordered in part by accessible plantation. Through +this she loitered along, enjoying the few wild flowers and the many +lights and shadows, so that it was almost evening before she reached +her destination. + +"Preserve 's a'! Annie Anderson, what brings ye here this time o' +nicht?" exclaimed her aunt. + +"It's a lang time sin I saw ye, auntie, and I wantit to see ye." + +"Weel, come butt the hoose. Ye're growin' a great muckle quean," said +her aunt, inclined to a favourable consideration of her by her growth. + +Margaret "didna like bairns--menseless craturs--aye wantin' ither fowk +to do for them!" But growth was a kind of regenerating process in her +eyes, and when a girl began to look like a woman, she regarded it as an +outward sign of conversion, or something equally valuable.--So she +conducted her into the presence of her uncle, a little old man, worn +and bent, with gray locks peeping out from under a Highland bonnet. + +"This is my brither Jeames's bairn," she said. + +The old man received her kindly, called her his dawtie, and made her +sit down by him on a three-legged _creepie_, talking to her as if she +had been quite a child, while she, capable of high converse as she was, +replied in corresponding terms. Her great-aunt was confined to her bed +with rheumatism. Supper was preparing, and Annie was not sorry to have +a share, for indeed, during the summer, her meals were often scanty +enough. While they ate, the old man kept helping her to the best, +talking to her all the time. + +"Will ye no come and bide wi' me, dawtie?" he said, meaning little by +the question. + +"Na, na," answered Margaret for her. "She's at the schule, ye ken, +uncle, and we maunna interfere wi' her schoolin.'--Hoo does that leein' +ted, Robert Bruce, carry himsel' to ye, bairn?" + +"Ow! I jist never min' him," answered Annie. + +"Weel, it's a' he deserves at your han'. But gin I war you, I wad let +him ken that gin he saws your corn ye hae a richt to raither mair nor +his gleanins." + +"I dinna ken what ye mean," answered Annie. + +"Ow! na; I daursay no. But ye may jist as weel ken noo, that that ted, +Robert Bruce, has twa hunner poun' odd o' yer ain, lassie; and gin he +doesna use ye weel, ye can jist tell him 'at I telt ye sae." + +This piece of news had not the overpowering effect upon Annie which, +perhaps, her aunt had expected. No doubt the money seemed in her eyes a +limitless fortune; but then Bruce had it. She might as soon think of +robbing a bear of her whelps as getting her own from Bruce. Besides, +what could she do with it if she had it? And she had not yet acquired +the faculty of loving money for its own sake. When she rose to take her +leave, she felt little richer than when she entered, save for the kind +words of John Peterson. + +"It's ower late for ye to gang hame yer lane, dawtie," said the old +man. + +"I'm nae that fleyt," answered Annie. + +"Weel, gin ye walk wi' Him, the mirk'll be licht aboot ye," said he, +taking off his Highland bonnet, and looking up with a silent +recognition of the care of _Him_. "Be a gude lass," he resumed, +replacing his bonnet, "an' rin hame as fest's ye can. Gude nicht to ye, +dawtie." + +Rejoicing as if she had found her long-lost home, Annie went out into +the deep gloamin feeling it impossible she should be frightened at +anything. But when she came to the part of the road bordered with +trees, she could not help fancying she saw a figure flitting along from +tree to tree just within the deeper dusk of the wood, and as she +hurried on, fancy grew to fear. Presently she heard awful sounds, like +the subdued growling of wild beasts. She would have taken to her heels +in terror, but she reflected that thereby she would only insure +pursuit, whereas she might slip away unperceived. As she reached a +stile leading into the wood, however, a dusky figure came bounding over +it, and advanced towards her. To her relief it went on two legs; and +when it came nearer she thought she recognized some traits of old +acquaintance about it. When it was within a couple of yards of her, as +she still pursued her way towards Glamerton, she stopped and cried out +joyfully: + +"Curly!"--for it was her old vice-champion. + +"Annie!" was the equally joyful response. + +"I thocht ye was a wild beast!" said Annie. + +"I was only growlin' for fun to mysel'," answered Curly, who would have +done it all the more if he had known there was any one on the road. "I +didna ken 'at I was fleggin' onybody. An' hoo are ye, Annie? An' hoo's +Blister Bruce?" + +For Curly was dreadfully prolific in nicknames. + +Annie had not seen him for six months. He had continued to show himself +so full of mischief, though of a comparatively innocent sort, that his +father thought it better at last to send him to a town at some distance +to learn the trade of a saddler, for which he had shown a preference. + +This was his first visit to his home. Hitherto his father had received +no complaints of his behaviour, and had now begged a holiday. + +"Ye're grown sair, Annie," he said. + +"Sae are ye, Curly," answered Annie. + +"An' hoo's Alec?" + +"He's verra weel." + +Whereupon much talk followed, which need not be recorded. At length +Curly said: + +"And hoo's the rottans?" + +"Ower weel and thrivin'." + +"Jist pit yer han' i' my coat-pooch, and see what I hae broucht ye." + +Knowing Curly's propensities, Annie refused. + +"It's a wild beast," said Curly. "I'll lat it oot upo' ye. It was it +'at made a' that roarin' i' the plantin'." + +So saying, he pulled out of his pocket the most delicate tortoiseshell +kitten, not half the beauty of which could be perceived in the gloamin, +which is all the northern summer night. He threw it at Annie, but she +had seen enough not to be afraid to catch it in her hands. + +"Did ye fess this a' the road frae Spinnie to me, Curly?" + +"Ay did I, Annie. Ye see I dinna like rottans. But ye maun haud it oot +o' their gait for a feow weeks, or they'll rive't a' to bits. It'll +sune be a match for them though, I s' warran'. She comes o' a killin' +breed." + +Annie took the kitten home, and it shared her bed that night. + +"What's that meowlin?" asked Bruce the next morning, the moment he rose +from the genuflexion of morning prayers. + +"It's my kittlin'," answered Annie. "I'll lat ye see't." + +"We hae ower mony mou's i' the hoose already," said Bruce, as she +returned with the little peering baby-animal in her arms. "We hae nae +room for mair. Here, Rob, tak the cratur, an' pit a tow aboot its neck, +an' a stane to the tow, an' fling't into the Glamour." + +Annie, not waiting to parley, darted from the house with the kitten. + +"Rin efter her, Rob," said Bruce, "an' tak' it frae her, and droon't. +We canna hae the hoose swarmin'." + +Bob bolted after her, delighted with his commission. But instead of +finding her at the door, as he had expected, he saw her already a long +way up the street, flying like the wind. He started in keen pursuit. He +was now a great lumbering boy, and although Annie's wind was not equal +to his, she was more fleet. She took the direct road to Howglen, and +Rob kept floundering after her. Before she reached the footbridge she +was nearly breathless, and he was gaining fast upon her. Just as she +turned the corner of the road, leading up on the other side of the +water, she met Alec and Kate. Unable to speak, she passed without +appeal. But there was no need to ask the cause of her pale agonized +face, for there was young Bruce at her heels. Alec collared him +instantly. + +"What are you up to?" he asked. + +"Naething," answered the panting pursuer. + +"Gin ye be efter naething, ye'll fin' that nearer hame," retorted Alec, +twisting him round in that direction, and giving him a kick to expedite +his return. "Lat me hear o' you troublin' Annie Anderson, an' I'll gar +ye loup oot o' yer skin the neist time I lay han's upo' ye. Gang hame." + +Rob obeyed like a frightened dog, while Annie pursued her course to +Howglen, as if her enemy had been still on her track. Rushing into the +parlour, she fell on the floor before Mrs Forbes, unable to utter a +word. The kitten sprung mewing out of her arms, and took refuge under +the sofa. + +"Mem, mem," she gasped at length, "tak' care o' my kittlin'. They want +to droon't. It's my ain. Curly gied it to me." + +Mrs Forbes comforted her, and readily undertook the tutelage. Annie was +very late for school, for Mrs Forbes made her have another breakfast +before she went. But Mr Malison was in a good humour that day, and said +nothing. Rob Bruce looked devils at her. What he had told his father I +do not know; but whatever it was, it was all written down in Bruce's +mental books to the debit of Alexander Forbes of Howglen. + +Mrs Forbes's heart smote her when she found to what persecution her +little friend was exposed during those times when her favour was +practically although not really withdrawn; but she did not see how she +could well remedy it. She was herself in the power of Bruce, and +expostulation from her would be worth little; while to have Annie to +the house as before would involve consequences unpleasant to all +concerned. She resolved to make up for it by being kinder to her than +ever as soon as Alec should have followed Kate to the precincts of the +university; while for the present she comforted both herself and Annie +by telling her to be sure to come to her when she found herself in any +trouble. + +But Annie was not one to apply to her friends except she was in great +need of their help. The present case had been one of life and death. +She found no further occasion to visit Mrs Forbes before Kate and Alec +were both gone. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LI. + + +On a sleepy summer afternoon, just when the sunshine begins to turn +yellow, Annie was sitting with Tibbie on the grass in front of her +little cottage, whose door looked up the river. The cottage stood on a +small rocky eminence at the foot of the bridge. Underneath the approach +to it from the bridge, the dyer's mill-race ran by a passage cut in the +rock, leading to the third arch of the bridge built over the Glamour. +Towards the river, the rock went down steep to the little meadow. It +was a triangular piece of smooth grass growing on the old bed of the +river, which for many years had been leaving this side, and wearing +away the opposite bank. It lay between the river, the dyer's race, and +the bridge, one of the stone piers of which rose from it. The grass +which grew upon it was short, thick, and delicate. On the opposite side +of the river lay a field for bleaching the linen, which was the chief +manufacture of that country. Hence it enjoyed the privilege of immunity +from the ploughshare. None of its daisies ever met the fate of Burn's + + "Wee, modest, crimson-tippit flower." + +But indeed so constantly was the grass mown to keep it short, that +there was scarcely a daisy to be seen in it, the long broad lines of +white linen usurping their place, and in their stead keeping up the +contrast of white and green. Around Tibbie and Annie however the +daisies were shining back to the sun, confidently, with their hearts of +gold and their rays of silver. And the butter-cups were all of gold; +and the queen-of-the-meadow, which grew tall at the water-side, +perfumed the whole region with her crown of silvery blossom. Tibbie's +blind face was turned towards the sun; and her hands were busy as ants +with her knitting needles, for she was making a pair of worsted +stockings for Annie against the winter. No one could fit stockings so +well as Tibbie. + +"Wha's that comin', lassie?" she asked. + +Annie, who had heard no one, glanced round, and, rising, said, + +"It's Thomas Crann." + +"That's no Thomas Crann," rejoined Tibbie. "I dinna hear the host +(cough) o' 'im." + +Thomas came up, pale and limping a little. + +"That's no Thomas Crann?" repeated Tibbie, before he had time to +address her. + +"What for no, Tibbie?" returned Thomas. + +"'Cause I canna hear yer breath, Thamas." + +"That's a sign that I hae the mair o' 't, Tibbie. I'm sae muckle better +o' that ashma, that I think whiles the Lord maun hae blawn into my +nostrils anither breath o' that life that he breathed first into Edam +an' Eve." + +"I'm richt glaid to hear't, Thamas. Breath maun come frae him ae gait +or ither." + +"Nae doobt, Tibbie." + +"Will ye sit doon asides's, Thamas? It's lang sin' I hae seen ye." + +Tibbie always spoke of _seeing_ people. + +"Ay will I, Tibbie. I haena muckle upo' my han's jist the day. Ye see I +haena won richt into my wark again yet." + +"Annie an' me 's jist been haeing a crack thegither aboot this thing +an' that thing, Thamas," said Tibbie, dropping her knitting on her +knees, and folding her palms together. "Maybe _ye_ could tell me +whether there be ony likeness atween the licht that I canna see and +that soun' o' the water rinnin', aye rinnin', that I like sae weel to +hear." + +For it did not need the gentle warm wind, floating rather than blowing +down the river that afternoon, to bring to their ears the sound of the +_entick_, or dam built across the river, to send the water to the +dyer's wheel; for that sound was in Tibbie's cottage day and night, +mingled with the nearer, gentler, and stronger gurgling of the swift, +deep, _deedie_ water in the race, that hurried, aware of its work, with +small noise and much soft-sliding force towards the wheel. + +"Weel, ye see, Tibbie," answered Thomas, "it's nearhan' as ill for the +like o' us to unnerstan' your blin'ness as it may be for you to +unnerstan' oor sicht." + +"Deed maybe neyther o' 's kens muckle aboot oor ain gift either o' +sicht or blin'ness.--Say onything ye like, gin ye dinna tell me, as the +bairn here ance did, that I cudna ken what the licht was. I kenna what +yer sicht may be, and I'm thinkin' I care as little. But weel ken I +what the licht is." + +"Tibbie, dinna be ill-nater'd, like me. Ye hae no call to that same. +I'm tryin' to answer your queston. And gin ye interrup' me again, I'll +rise an' gang hame." + +"Say awa', Thamas. Never heed me. I'm some cankert whiles. I ken that +weel eneuch." + +"Ye hae nae business to be cankert, Tibbie?" + +"Nae mair nor ither fowk." + +"Less, Tibbie; less, woman." + +"Hoo mak' ye that oot?" asked Tibbie, defensively. + +"Ye dinna see the things to anger ye that ither fowk sees.--As I cam' +doon the street this minute, I cam' upo' twa laddies--ye ken +them--they're twins--ane o' them cripple--" + +"Ay, that was Murdoch Malison's wark!" interposed Tibbie, with +indignant reminiscence. + +"The man's been sorry for't this mony a day," said Thomas; "sae we +maunna come ower't again, Tibbie." + +"Verra weel, Thamas; I s' haud my tongue. What about the laddies?" + +"They war fechtin' i' the verra street; ruggin' ane anither's heids, +an' peggin' at ane anither's noses, an' doin' their verra endeevour to +destroy the image o' the Almichty--it wasna muckle o' 't that was left +to blaud. I teuk and throosh them baith." + +"An' what cam' o' the image o' the Almichty?" asked Tibbie, with a +grotesque contortion of her mouth, and a roll of her veiled eyeballs. +"I doobt, Thamas," she continued, "ye angert yersel' mair nor ye +quaietit them wi' the thrashin'. The wrath o' man, ye ken, Thamas, +worketh not the richtyisness o' God." + +There was not a person in Glamerton who would have dared to speak thus +to Thomas Crann but Tibbie Dyster, perhaps because there was not one +who had such a respect for him. Possibly the darkness about her made +her bolder; but I think it was her truth, which is another word for +_love_, however unlike love the outcome may look, that made her able to +speak in this fashion. + +Thomas was silent for a long minute. Then he said: + +"Maybe ye're i' the richt, Tibbie. Ye aye anger me; but I wad raither +hae a body anger me wi' tellin' me the trowth, nor I wad hae a' the +fair words i' the dictionar'. It's a strange thing, wumman, but aye +whan a body's tryin' maist to gang upricht he's sure to catch a +dreidfu' fa'. There I hae been warstlin' wi' my ill-temper mair nor +ever I did i' my life afore; and I never i' my days lickit twa laddies +for lickin' ane anither till jist this verra day. And I prayed against +mysel' afore I cam' oot. I canna win at the boddom o' 't." + +"There's waur things nor an ill temper, Thamas. No that it's bonnie +ava'. And it's nane like Him 'at was meek and lowly o' hert. But, as I +say, there's waur fauts nor an ill temper. It wad be no gain to you, +Thamas, and no glory to Him whase will's your sanctification, gin ye +war to owercome yer temper, and syne think a heap o' yersel' that ye +had done't. Maybe that's what for yer no allooed to be victorious in +yer endeevours." + +"'Deed, maybe, Tibbie," said Thomas solemnly. "And I'm some doobtfu' +forbye, whether I mayna be tryin' to ripe oot the stockin' frae the +wrang en' o' 't. I doobt the fau't's nae sae muckle i' my temper as i' +my hert. It's mair love that I want, Tibbie. Gin I lo'ed my neebor as +mysel', I cudna be sae ill-natert till him; though 'deed, whiles, I'm +angry eneuch at mysel'--a hantle waur nor at him." + +"Verra true, Thamas," answered Tibbie. "Perfect love casteth oot fear, +'cause there's nae room for the twa o' them; and I daursay it wad be +the same wi' the temper." + +"But I'm no gaein' to gie in to bein' ill-natert for a' that," said +Thomas, as if alarmed at the possible consequences of the conclusion. + +"Na na. Resist ye the deevil, Thamas. Haud at him, man. He's sure to +rin at the lang last. But I'm feared ye'll gang awa' ohn tellt me aboot +the licht and the water. Whan I'm sittin' here o' the girse, hearkenin' +to the water, as it comes murrin', and soufflin', and gurglin', on to +me, and syne by me and awa', as gin it war spinnin' and twistin' a lot +o' bonnie wee sounies a' intil ae muckle gran' soun', it pits me i' +min' o' the text that says, 'His voice was as the sound o' mony +waters.' Noo his face is licht--ye ken that, divna ye?--and gin his +voice be like the water, there maun be something like atween the licht +and the water, ye ken. That's what garred me spier at ye, Thamas." + +"Weel, I dinna ken richtly hoo to answer ye, Tibbie; but at this moment +the licht's playin' bonnie upo' the entick--shimmerin' and brakin' upo' +the water, as hit bracks upo' the stanes afore it fa's. An' what fa's, +it luiks as gin it took the licht wi' 't i' the wame o' 't like. Eh! +it's bonnie, woman; and I wiss ye had the sicht o' yer een to see't +wi'; though ye do preten' to think little o' 't." + +"Weel, weel! my time's comin', Thamas; and I maun jist bide till it +comes. Ye canna help me, I see that. Gin I could only open my een for +ae minute, I wad ken a' aboot it, and be able to answer mysel'.--I +think we 'll gang into the hoose, for I canna bide it langer." + +All the time they were talking Annie was watching Alec's boat, which +had dropped down the river, and was floating in the sunshine above the +dam. Thomas must have seen it too, for it was in the very heart of the +radiance reflected to them from the watery mirror. But Alec was a +painful subject with Thomas, for when they chanced to meet now, nothing +more than the passing salute of ordinary acquaintance was exchanged. +And Thomas was not able to be indulgent to young people. Certain facts +in his nature, as well as certain articles in his creed, rendered him +unable. So, being one of those who never speak of what is painful to +them if they can avoid it--thinking all the more, he talked about the +light, and said nothing about the boat that was in the middle of it. +Had Alec been rowing, Tibbie would have heard the oars; but he only +paddled enough to keep the boat from drifting on to the dam. Kate sat +in the stern looking at the water with half-closed eyes, and Alec sat +looking at Kate, as if his eyes were made only for her. And Annie sat +in the meadow, and she too looked at Kate; and she thought how pretty +she was, and how she must like being rowed about in the old boat. It +seemed quite an old boat now. An age had passed since her name was +painted on it. She wondered if _The Bonnie Annie_ was worn off the +stern yet; or if Alec had painted it out, and put the name of the +pretty lady instead. When Tibbie and Thomas walked away into the house, +Annie lingered behind on the grass. + +The sun sank slanting and slow, yet he did sink, lower and lower; till +at length Alec leaned back with a stronger pull on the oars, and the +boat crept away up the stream, lessening as it crept, and, turning a +curve in the river, was lost. Still she sat on, with one hand lying +listlessly in her lap, and the other plucking blades of grass and +making a little heap of them beside her, till she had pulled a spot +quite bare, and the brown earth peeped through between the roots. Then +she rose, went up to the door of the cottage, called a good night to +Tibbie, and took her way home. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LII. + + +My story has not to do with city-life, in which occur frequent shocks, +changes, and recombinations, but with the life of a country region; and +is, therefore, "to a lingering motion bound," like the day, like the +ripening of the harvest, like the growth of all good things. But clouds +and rainbows will come in the quietest skies; adventures and +coincidences in the quietest village. + +As Kate and Alec walked along the street, on their way to the castle, +one of the coaches from the county-town drove up with its four +thorough-breds. + +"What a handsome fellow the driver is!" said Kate. + +Alec looked up at the box. There sat Beauchamp, with the ribbons in his +grasp, handling his horses with composure and skill. Beside him sat the +owner of the coach, a _laird_ of the neighbourhood. + +Certainly Beauchamp was a handsome fellow. But a sting went through +Alec's heart. It was the first time that he thought of his own person +in comparison with another. That she should admire Beauchamp, though he +was handsome! + +The memory even of that moment made him writhe on his bed years after; +for a mental and bodily wound are alike in this, that after there is +but the scar of either left, bad weather will revive the torture. His +face fell. Kate saw it, and did him some injustice. They walked on in +silence, in the shadow of a high wall. Kate looked up at the top of the +wall and stopped. Alec looked at her. Her face was as full of light as +a diamond in the sun. He forgot all his jealousy. The fresh tide of his +love swept it away, or at least covered it. On the top of the wall, in +the sun, grew one wild scarlet poppy, a delicate transparent glory, +through which the sunlight shone, staining itself red, and almost +dissolving the poppy. + +The red light melted away the mist between them, and they walked in it +up to the ruined walls. Long grass grew about them, close to the very +door, which was locked, that if old Time could not be kept out, younger +destroyers might. Other walls stood around, vitrified by fire--the +remnants of an older castle still, about which Jamblichus might have +spied the lingering phantoms of many a terrible deed. + +They entered by the door in the great tower, under the spiky remnants +of the spiral stair projecting from the huge circular wall. To the +right, a steep descent, once a stair, led down to the cellars and the +dungeon; a terrible place, the visible negations of which are horrid, +and need no popular legends such as Alec had been telling Kate, of a +walled-up door and a lost room, to add to their influence. It was no +wonder that when he held out his hand to lead her down into the +darkness and through winding ways to the mouth of the far-off beehive +dungeon--it was no wonder, I say, that she should shrink and draw back. +A few rays came through the decayed planks of the door which Alec had +pushed to behind them, and fell upon the rubbish of centuries sloping +in the brown light and damp air down into the abyss. One larger ray +from the keyhole fell upon Kate's face, and showed it blanched with +fear, and her eyes distended with the effort to see through the gloom. + +At that moment, a sweet, low voice came from somewhere, out of the +darkness, saying: + +"Dinna be feared, mem, to gang whaur Alec wants ye to gang. Ye can +lippen (trust) to _him_." + +Staring in the direction of the sound, Kate saw the pale face of a +slender--half child, half maiden, glimmering across the gulf that led +to the dungeon. She stood in the midst of a sepulchral light, whose +faintness differed from mere obscuration, inasmuch as it told how +bright it was out of doors in the sun. Annie, I say, stood in this +dimness--a dusky and yet radiant creature, seeming to throw off from +her a faint brown light--a lovely, earth-stained ghost. + +"Oh! Annie, is that you?" said Alec. + +"Ay is't, Alec," Annie answered. + +"This is an old schoolfellow of mine," he said, turning to Kate, who +was looking haughtily at the girl. + +"Oh! is it?" said Kate, condescending. + +Between the two, each looking ghostly to the other, lay a dark +cavern-mouth that seemed to go down to Hades. + +"Wonna ye gang doon, mem?" said Annie. + +"No, thank you," answered Kate, decisively. + +"Alec'll tak' guid care o' ye, mem." + +"Oh! yes, I daresay; but I had rather not." + +Alec said nothing. Kate would not trust him then! He would not have +thought much of it, however, but for what had passed before. Would she +have gone with Beauchamp if he had asked her? Ah! if he had asked +Annie, she too would have turned pale, but she would have laid her hand +in his, and gone with him. + +"Gin ye want to gang up, than," she said, "I'll lat ye see the easiest +road. It's roun' this way." + +And she pointed to a narrow ledge between the descent and the circular +wall, by which they could cross to where she stood. But Alec, who had +no desire for Annie's company, declined her guidance, and took Kate up +a nearer though more difficult ascent to the higher level. Here all the +floors of the castle lay in dust beneath their feet, mingled with +fragments of chimney-piece and battlement. The whole central space lay +open to the sky. + +Annie remained standing on the edge of the dungeon-slope. + +She had been on her way to see Tibbie, when she caught a glimpse of +Kate and Alec as they passed. Since watching them in the boat the +evening before, she had been longing to speak to Alec, longing to see +Kate nearer: perhaps the beautiful lady would let her love her. She +guessed where they were going, and across the fields she bounded like a +fawn, straight as the crows flew home to the precincts of that "ancient +rest," and reached it before them. She did not need to fetch the key, +for she knew a hole on the level of the grass, wide enough to let her +creep through the two yards of wall. So she crept in and took her place +near the door. + +After they had rambled over the lower part of the building, Alec took +Kate up a small winding stair, past a succession of empty doorways like +eyeless sockets, leading nowhither because the floors had fallen. Kate +was so frightened by coming suddenly upon one after another of these +defenceless openings, that by the time she reached the broad platform, +which ran, all bare of parapet or battlement, around the top of the +tower, she felt faint; and when Alec scampered off like a goat to reach +the bartizan at the other side, she sank in an agony of fear upon the +landing of the stair. + +Looking down upon her from the top of the little turret, Alec saw that +she was ill, and returning instantly in great dismay, comforted her as +well as he could, and got her by degrees to the bottom. There was a +spot of grass inside the walls, on which he made her rest; and as the +sun shone upon her through one of the ruined windows, he stood so that +his shadow should fall across her eyes. While he stood thus a strange +fancy seized him. The sun became in his eyes a fiery dragon, which +having devoured half of the building, having eaten the inside out of +it, having torn and gnawed it everywhere, and having at length reached +its kernel, the sleeping beauty, whose bed had, in the long years, +mouldered away, and been replaced by the living grass, would swallow +her up anon, if he were not there to stand between and defend her. When +he looked at her next, she had indeed become the sleeping beauty he had +fancied her; and sleep had already restored the colour to her cheeks. + +Turning his eyes up to the tower from which they had just descended, he +saw, looking down upon them from one of the isolated doorways, the pale +face of Patrick Beauchamp. Alec bounded to the stair, rushed to the top +and round the platform, but found nobody. Beginning to doubt his eyes, +his next glance showed him Beauchamp standing over the sleeping girl. +He darted down the screw of the stair, but when he reached the bottom +Beauchamp had again disappeared. + +The same moment Kate began to wake. Her first movement brought Alec to +his senses: why should he follow Beauchamp? He returned to her side, +and they left the place, locked the door behind them, took the key to +the lodge, and went home. + +After tea, Alec, believing he had locked Beauchamp into the castle, +returned and searched the building from top to bottom, even got a +candle and a ladder, and went down into the dungeon, found no one, and +went home bewildered. + +While Alec was searching the vacant ruin, Beauchamp was comfortably +seated on the box of the Spitfire, tooling it halfway home--namely, as +far as the house of its owner, the laird above mentioned, who was a +relative of his mother, and whom he was then visiting. He had seen Kate +and Alec take the way to the castle, and had followed them, and found +the door unlocked. Watching them about the place, he ascended the stair +from another approach. The moment Alec looked up at him, he ran down +again, and had just dropped into a sort of well-like place which the +stair had used to fill on its way to a lower level, when he heard +Alec's feet thundering up over his head. Determined then to see what +the lady was like, for he had never seen her close, or without her +bonnet, which now lay beside her on the grass, he scrambled out, and, +approaching her cautiously, had a few moments to contemplate her before +he saw--for he kept a watch on the tower--that Alec had again caught +sight of him, when he immediately fled to his former refuge, which +communicated with a low-pitched story lying between the open level and +the vaults. + +The sound of the ponderous and rusty bolt reached him across the +cavernous space. He had not expected their immediate departure, and was +rather alarmed. His first impulse was to try whether he could not shoot +the bolt from the inside. This he soon found to be impossible. He next +turned to the windows in the front, but there the ground fell away so +suddenly that he was many feet from it--an altogether dangerous leap. +He was beginning to feel seriously concerned, when he heard a voice: + +"Do ye want to win oot, sir? They hae lockit the door." + +He turned but could see no one. Approaching the door again, he spied +Annie, in the dark twilight, standing on the edge of the descent to the +vaults. He had passed the spot not a minute before, and she was +certainly not there then. She looked as if she had just glided up that +slope from a region so dark that a spectre might haunt it all day long. +But Beauchamp was not of a fanciful disposition, and instead of taking +her for a spectre, he accosted her with easy insolence! + +"Tell me how to get out, my pretty girl, and I'll give you a kiss." + +Seized with a terror she did not understand, Annie darted into the +cavern between them, and sped down its steep into the darkness which +lay there like a lurking beast. A few yards down, however, she turned +aside, through a low doorway, into a vault. Beauchamp rushed after her, +passed her, and fell over a great stone lying in the middle of the way. +Annie heard him fall, sprung forth again, and, flying to the upper +light, found her way out, and left the discourteous knight a safe +captive, fallen upon that horrible stair.--A horrible stair it was: up +and down those steps, then steep and worn, now massed into an incline +of beaten earth, had swarmed, for months together, a multitude of naked +children, orphaned and captive by the sword, to and from the troughs at +which they fed like pigs, amidst the laughter of the lord of the castle +and his guests; while he who passed down them to the dungeon beyond, +had little chance of ever retracing his steps upward to the light. + +Annie told the keeper that there was a gentleman shut into the castle, +and then ran a mile and a half to Tibbie's cottage, without stopping. +But she did not say a word to Tibbie about her adventure. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LIII. + + +A spirit of prophecy, whether from the Lord or not, was abroad this +summer among the clergy of Glamerton, of all persuasions. Nor was its +influences confined to Glamerton or the clergy. The neighbourhood and +the laity had their share. Those who read their Bibles, of whom there +were many in that region, took to reading the prophecies, all the +prophecies, and scarcely anything but the prophecies. Upon these every +man, either for himself or following in the track of his spiritual +instructor, exercised his individual powers of interpretation, whose +fecundity did not altogether depend upon the amount of historical +knowledge. But whatever was known, whether about ancient Assyria or +modern Tahiti, found its theoretic place. Of course the Church of Rome +had her due share of the application from all parties; but neither the +Church of England, the Church of Scotland, nor either of the dissenting +sects, went without its portion freely dealt, each of the last finding +something that applied to all the rest. There were some, however, who +cared less for such modes, and, themselves given to a daily fight with +antichrist in their own hearts, sought--for they too read the +prophecies--to fix their reference on certain sins, and certain persons +classed according to these their sins. With a burning desire for the +safety of their neighbours, they took upon them the strongest words of +rebuke and condemnation, so that one might have thought they were +revelling in the idea of the vengeance at hand, instead of striving for +the rescue of their neighbours from the wrath to come. Among these were +Thomas Crann and his minister, Mr Turnbull. To them Glamerton was the +centre of creation, providence, and revelation. Every warning finger in +The Book pointed to it; every burst of indignation from the labouring +bosom of holy prophet was addressed to its sinners. And what the +ministers spoke to classes from the pulpit, Thomas, whose mode of +teaching was in so far Socratic that he singled out his man, applied to +the individual--in language occasionally too much to the point to admit +of repetition in the delicate ears of the readers of the nineteenth +century, some of whom are on such friendly terms with the vices +themselves, that they are shocked at the vulgarity and rudeness of the +_names_ given them by their forefathers. + +"Ye ken weel eneuch that ye're a drucken vratch, Peter Peterson. An' ye +ken weel eneuch that ye're nane better, forbye, than ye sud be. Naebody +ever accused ye o' stealin'; but gin ye haud on as ye're doin', that'll +come neist. But I doobt the wrath o' the Almichty'll be doon upo' 's +like a spate, as it was i' the days o' Noah, afore ye hae time to learn +to steal, Peter Peterson. Ye'll hae _your_ share in bringin' +destruction upo' this toon, and a' its belongin's. The verra kirk-yard +winna hide ye that day frae the wrath o' Him that sitteth upo' the +throne. Tak' ye tent, and repent, Peter; or it'll be the waur for ye." + +The object of this terrible denunciation of the wrath of the Almighty +was a wretched little object indeed, just like a white rabbit--with +pink eyes, a grey face and head, poor thin legs, a long tail-coat that +came nearly to his heels, an awfully ragged pair of trowsers, and a +liver charred with whisky. He had kept a whisky-shop till he had drunk +all his own whisky; and as no distiller would let him have any on +trust, he now hung about the inn-yard, and got a penny from one, and +twopence from another, for running errands.--Had they been sovereigns +they would all have gone the same way--namely, for whisky. + +He listened to Thomas with a kind of dazed meekness, his eyes wandering +everywhere except in the direction of Thomas's. One who did not know +Thomas would have thought it cowardly in him to attack such a poor +creature. But Thomas was just as ready to fly at the greatest man in +Glamerton. All the evildoers of the place feared him--the rich +manufacturer and the strong horse-doctor included. They called him a +wheezing, canting hypocrite, and would go streets out of their way to +avoid him. + +But on the present occasion he went too far with Peter. + +"And it's weel kent your dochter Bauby's no better nor she sud be; +for--" + +Peter's face flushed crimson, though where the blood could have come +from was an anatomical mystery; he held up his hands with the fingers +crooked like the claws of an animal, for the poor creature had no +notion of striking; and, dancing backwards and forwards from one foot +to the other, and grinning with set teeth in an agony of impotent rage, +cried out: + +"Tam Crann, gin ye daur to say anither word against my Bauby wi' that +foul mou' o' yours, I'll--I'll--I'll--worry ye like a mad dog�ye +ill-tongued scoonrel!" + +His Bawby had already had two children--one to the rich manufacturer, +the other to the strong horse-doctor. + +Thomas turned in silence and went away rebuked and ashamed. Next day he +sent Peter a pair of old corduroy trowsers, into either leg of which he +might have been buttoned like one of Paddy's twins. + +In the midst of this commotion of mind and speech, good Mr Cowie died. +He had taken no particular interest in what was going on, nor even in +the prophecies themselves. Ever since Annie's petition for counsel, he +had been thinking, as he had never thought before, about his own +relation to God; and had found this enough without the prophecies. Now +he had carried his thoughts into another world. While Thomas Crann was +bending his spiritual artillery upon the poor crazy tub in which +floated the earthly presence of Peter Peterson, Mr Cowie's bark was +lying stranded upon that shore whither the tide of time is slowly +drifting each of us. + +He was gently regretted by all--even by Thomas. + +"Ay! ay!" he said, with slow emphasis, 'long drawn out'; "he's gane, is +he, honest man? Weel, maybe he had the root o' the maitter in him, +although it made unco little show aboon the yird. There was sma' flower +and less fruit. But jeedgment disna belang to us, ye see, Jean, lass." + +Thomas would judge the living from morning to night; but the dead--he +would leave them alone in the better hands. + +"I'm thinkin'," he added, "he's been taen awa' frae the evil to +come--frae seein' the terrible consequences o' sic a saft way o' +dealin' wi' eternal trowth and wi' perishin' men--taen awa' like Eli, +whan he brak his neck at the ill news. For the fire and brimstane that +overthrew Sodom and Gomorrha, is, I doobt, hingin' ower this toon, +ready to fa' and smore us a'." + +"Hoot! hoot! dinna speyk sic awfu' words, Thamas, Ye're nae the prophet +Jonah, ye ken." + +"Are ye the whaul than, to swallow me and my words thegither, Jean? I +tell ye the wrath o' God _maun_ be roused against this toon, for it's +been growin' waur and waur for mony a year; till the verra lasses are +no to be lippent oot them-lanes (alone)." + +"What ken ye aboot the lasses, Thamas? Haud ye to the men. The lasses +are nae waur nor in ither pairts. I wat I can come and gang whan and +whaur I like. Never a body says a word to me." + +This was true but hardly significant; seeing Jean had one shoulder and +one eye twice the size of the others, to say nothing of various +obliquities and their compensations. But, rude as Thomas was, he was +gentleman enough to confine his reply to a snort and a silence. For had +he not chosen his housekeeper upon the strength of those personal +recommendations of the defensive importance of which she was herself +unaware? + +Except his own daughters there was no one who mourned so deeply for the +loss of Mr Cowie as Annie Anderson. She had left his church and gone to +the missionars, and there found more spiritual nourishment than Mr +Cowie's sermons could supply, but she could not forget his kisses, or +his gentle words, or his shilling, for by their means, although she did +not know it, Mr Cowie's self had given her a more confiding notion of +God, a better feeling of his tenderness, than she could have had from +all Mr Turnbull's sermons together. What equal gift could a man give? +Was it not worth bookfuls of sound doctrine? Yet the good man, not +knowing this, had often looked back to that interview, and reproached +himself bitterly that he, so long a clergyman of that parish, had no +help to give the only child who ever came to him to ask such help. So, +when he lay on his death-bed, he sent for Annie, the only soul, out of +all his pariah, over which he felt that he had any pastoral cure. + +When, with pale, tearful face, she entered his chamber, she found him +supported with pillows in his bed. He stretched out his arms to her +feebly, but held her close to his bosom, and wept. + +"I'm going to die, Annie," he said. + +"And go to heaven, sir, to the face o' God," said Annie, not sobbing, +but with the tears streaming silently down her face. + +"I don't know, Annie. I've been of no use; and I'm afraid God does not +care much for me." + +"If God loves you half as much as I do, sir, ye'll be well off in +heaven. And I'm thinkin' he maun love ye mair nor me. For, ye see, sir, +God's love itsel'." + +"I don't know, Annie. But if ever I win there, which'll be more than I +deserve, I'll tell him about you, and ask him to give you the help that +I couldn't give you." + +Love and Death make us all children.--Can Old Age be an evil thing, +which does the same? + +The old clergyman had thought himself a good Protestant at least, but +even his Protestantism was in danger now. Happily Protestantism was +nothing to him now. Nothing but God would do now. + +Annie had no answer but what lay in her tears. He called his daughter, +who stood weeping in the room. She came near. + +"Bring my study Bible," he said to her feebly. + +She went and brought it--a large quarto Bible. + +"Here, Annie," said the dying man, "here's my Bible that I've made but +ower little use o' mysel'. Promise me, if ever ye have a house o' your +own, that ye'll read out o' that book every day at worship. I want you +not to forget me, as, if all's well, I shall never forget you." + +"That _will_ I, sir," responded Annie earnestly. + +"And ye'll find a new five-pound note between the leaves. Take it, for +my sake." + +Money! Ah, well! Love can turn gold into grace. + +"Yes, sir," answered Annie, feeling this was no time for objecting to +anything. + +"And good-bye, Annie. I can't speak more." + +He drew her to him again, and kissed her for the last time. Then he +turned his face to the wall, and Annie went home weeping, with the +great Bible in her arms. + +In the inadvertence of grief, she ran into the shop. + +"What hae ye gotten there, lassie?" said Bruce, as sharply as if she +might have stolen it. + +"Mr Cowie gave me his Bible, 'cause he's dein' himsel', and doesna want +it ony langer," answered Annie. + +"Lat's luik at it." + +Annie gave it up with reluctance. + +"It's a braw buik, and bonnie buirds--though gowd an' purple maitters +little to the Bible. We'll jist lay't upo' the room-table, an' we'll +hae worship oot o' 't whan ony body's wi' 's, ye ken." + +"I want it mysel'," objected Annie, in dismay, for although she did not +think of the money at the moment, she had better reasons for not liking +to part with the book. + +"Ye can hae't when ye want it. That's eneuch, surely." + +Annie could hardly think his saying so enough, however, seeing the door +of _the room_ was kept locked, and Mrs Bruce, patient woman as she was, +would have boxed any one's ears whom she met coming from within the +sacred precincts. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LIV. + + +Before the next Sunday Mr Cowie was dead; and, through some mistake or +mismanagement, there was no one to preach. So the congregation did each +as seemed right in his own eyes; and Mrs Forbes went to the missionar +kirk in the evening to hear Mr Turnbull. Kate and Alec accompanied her. + +By this time Robert Bruce had become a great man in the +community--after his own judgment at least; for although, with a few +exceptions, the missionars yielded him the influence he sought, nobody +respected him; they only respected his money. He had managed to secure +one of the most fashionable pews in the chapel; and now when Mrs +Forbes's party entered, and a little commotion arose in consequence, +they being more of gentlefolk than the place was accustomed to +entertain, Bruce was the first to walk from his seat, and request them +to occupy his pew. Alec would have passed on, for he disliked the man, +but Mrs Forbes having reasons for being complaisant, accepted his +offer. Colds kept the rest of the Bruces at home, and Annie was the +only other occupant of the pew. She crept up to the top of it, like a +little shy mouse, to be as far out of the way as possible. + +"Come oot, Annie," said Bruce, in a loud whisper. + +Annie came out, with a warm flush over her pale face, and Mrs Forbes +entered, then Kate, and last of all, Alec, much against his will. Then +Annie re-entered, and Bruce resumed his place as Cerberus of the +pew-door. So Annie was seated next to Alec, as she had never been, in +church or chapel, or even in school, before, except on that memorable +day when they were both _kept in_ for the Shorter Catechism. But Annie +had no feeling of delight and awe like that with which Alec sat close +to his beautiful cousin. She had a feeling of pleasure, no doubt, but +the essence of the pleasure was faith. She trusted him and believed in +him as much as she had ever done. In the end, those who trust most will +find they are nearest the truth. But Annie had no philosophy, either +worldly or divine. She had only common sense, gentleness, and +faithfulness. She was very glad, though, that Alec had come to hear Mr +Turnbull, who knew the right way better than anybody else, and could +show it quite as well as Evangelist in the _Pilgrim's Progress_. + +Nor was she far wrong in her judgment of the height of Mr Turnbull's +star, calculated from the horizon of Glamerton. He was a good man who +ventured to think for himself--as far as that may be possible for one +upon whose spirit have converged, even before he was born, the +influences of a thousand theological ancestors. + +After reading the curses on Mount Ebal, he preached an eloquent sermon +from the text: + +"Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way; yet saidst thou not +'there is no hope.'" + +He showed his hearers that they had all been seeking satisfaction in +their own pursuits, in the pride of their own way; that they had been +disappointed, even to weariness; and that yet, such was their +perversity, they would not acknowledge the hopelessness of the pursuit, +and turn to that God who was ready to pardon, and in whose courts a day +would give them more delight than a thousand in the tents of +wickedness. And opening his peroration by presumptuously appropriating +the words of the Saviour, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, it shall be +more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha, in that day, than for you," the +preacher concluded with a terrible denunciation of wrath upon the +sinners who had been called and would not come. "Woe unto you, for ye +would not be warned! Woe unto you, for ye knew your Lord's will, and +yet committed things worthy of stripes! Therefore your whip shall be +one of scorpions! Woe unto you! I say; for, when the bridegroom cometh, +ye shall knock in vain at the closed door; ye shall stand without, and +listen for a brief moment to the music and dancing within--listen with +longing hearts, till the rush of coming wings overpowers the blissful +sounds, and the angels of vengeance sweep upon you, and bearing you +afar through waste regions, cast you into outer darkness, where shall +be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, to the endless ages of a +divine eternity." + +With these words the preacher burst into impassioned prayer for the +souls which he saw exposed to a hell of which he himself knew not the +horrors, else he dared not have preached it; a hell the smoke of whose +torments would arise and choke the elect themselves about the throne of +God--the hell of Exhausted Mercy. + +As long as the stream of eloquence flowed the eyes of the congregation +were fixed upon the preacher in breathless silence. When it ceased they +sank, and a sigh of exhaustion and relief arose. In that ugly building, +amidst that weary praying and inharmonious singing, with that blatant +tone, and, worse than all, that merciless doctrine, there was yet +_preaching_--that rare speech of a man to his fellow-men whereby in +their inmost hearts they know that he in his inmost heart believes. +There was hardly an indifferent countenance in all that wide space +beneath, in all those far-sloping galleries above. Every conscience +hung out the red or pale flag. + +When Alec ventured to look up, as he sat down after the prayer, he saw +the eyes of Thomas Crann, far away in the crowd, fixed on him. And he +felt their force, though not in the way Thomas intended. Thomas never +meant to dart _personal_ reproaches across the house of God; but Alec's +conscience told him nevertheless, stung by that glance, that he had +behaved ill to his old friend. Nor did this lessen the general feeling +which the sermon had awakened in his mind, un-self-conscious as it was, +that something ought to be done; that something was wrong in him +somewhere; that it ought to be set right somehow--a feeling which every +one in the pew shared, except one. His heart was so moth-eaten and +rusty, with the moths and the rust which Mammon brings with him when he +comes in to abide with a man, that there was not enough of it left to +make the terrible discovery that the rest of it was gone. Its owner did +not know that there was anything amiss with it. What power can empty, +sweep, and garnish such a heart? Or what seven devils entering in, can +make the last state of that man worse than the first? + +A special prayer-meeting having been appointed, to be held after the +sermon, Robert Bruce remained, to join in the intercession for the +wicked town and its wicked neighbourhood. He even "engaged in prayer," +for the first time in public, and astonished some of the older members +by his gift in devotion. He had been received into the church only a +week or two before, upon profession of faith in the merits of Christ, +not in Christ himself--that would not have been definite enough for +them. But it would have been all the same to Robert Bruce, for he was +ready to believe that he believed anything advantageous. + +There had been one or two murmurs against his reception, and he had +been several times visited and talked with, before the Church was +satisfied as to his conversion. But nothing was known against him +beyond the fact that "he luikit at baith sides o' a bawbee;" and having +learned many of their idioms, he had succeeded in persuading his +examiners, and had possibly persuaded himself at the same time, that he +had passed through all the phases of conversion, including conviction, +repentance, and final acceptance of offered mercy on the terms +proposed, and was now undergoing the slow and troublesome process of +sanctification; in corroboration of which he went on to produce talk, +and coppers at the chapel-door. Good people as many of those were who +thus admitted him to their communion, in the full belief that none but +conscious Christians should enjoy that privilege, his reputation for +wealth had yet something to do with it. Probably they thought that if +the gospel proved mighty in this new disciple, more of his money might +be accessible by and by for good purposes: amongst the rest, for +sending missionaries to the heathen, teaching them to divorce their +wives and wear trowsers. And now he had been asked to pray, and had +prayed with much propriety and considerable unction. To be sure Tibbie +Dyster did sniff a good deal during the performance; but then that was +a way she had of relieving her feelings, next best to that of speaking +her mind. + +When the meeting was over, Robert Bruce, Thomas Crann, and James +Johnstone, who was one of the deacons, walked away together. Very +little conversation took place between them, for no subject but a +religious one was admissible; and the religious feelings of those who +had any were pretty nearly exhausted. Bruce's, however, were not in the +least exhausted. On the contrary, he was so pleased to find that he +could pray as well as any of them, and the excitement of doing so +before judges had been so new and pleasant to him, that he thought he +should like to try it again. He thought, too, of the grand Bible lying +up there on the room-table. + +"Come in, sirs," he said, as they approached his door, "and tak' a +pairt in our faimily worship; and sae the day'll gang oot wi' prayer, +as it cam in wi' prayer. And the Lord'll maybe hae mercy upo' 's, and +no destroy the place, shops an' a', for the sins o' the +inhaibitants--them 'at sees, for them 'at 's blin'." + +Neither of his companions felt much inclined to accede to his request: +they both yielded notwithstanding. He conducted them up-stairs, +unlocked the musty room, pulled up the blinds, and admitted enough of +lingering light for the concluding devotions of the day. He then +proceeded to gather his family together, calling them one by one. + +"Mother!" he cried, from the top of the stair, meaning his wife. + +"Tea, father," answered Mrs Bruce. + +"Come to worship.--Robert!" + +"Ay, father." + +"Come to worship.--Johnnie!" + +And so he went through the family roll-call, as if it were a part of +some strange liturgy. When all had entered and seated themselves, the +head of the house went slowly to the side-table, took from it +reverentially the late minister's study Bible, sat down by the window, +laid the book on his knees, and solemnly opened it. + +Now a five-pound note is not thick enough to make a big Bible open +between the pages where it is laid; but the note might very well have +been laid in at a place where the Bible was in the habit of opening. +"Without an instant's hesitation, Robert slipped it away, and crumpling +it up in his hand, gave out the twenty-third psalm, over which it had +lain, and read it through. Finding it too short, however, for the +respectability of worship, he went on with the twenty-fourth, turning +the leaf with thumb and forefinger, while the rest of the fingers +clasped the note tight in his palm, and reading as he turned, + +"He that hath clean hands and a pure heart--" + +As soon as he had finished this psalm, he closed the book with a snap; +feeling which to have been improper, he put an additional compensating +solemnity into the tone in which he said: + +"Thomas Crann, will you engage in prayer?" + +"Pray yersel'," answered Thomas gruffly. + +Whereupon Robert rose, and, kneeling down, did pray himself. + +But Thomas, instead of leaning forward on his chair when he knelt, +glanced sharply round at Bruce. He had seen him take something from the +Bible, and crumple it up in his hand but would not have felt any +inclination to speculate about it, had it not been for the peculiarly +keen expression of eager surprise and happy greed which came over his +face in the act. Having seen that, and being always more or less +suspicious of Bruce, he wanted to know more; and was thus led into an +action of which he would not have believed it possible he should ever +be guilty. + +He saw Bruce take advantage of the posture of devotion which he had +assumed, to put something into his pocket unseen of his guests, as he +believed. + +When worship was over, Bruce did not ask them to slay to supper. +Prayers did not involve expense; supper did. But Thomas at least could +not have stayed longer. + +He left his friends and went home pondering. The devotions of the day +were not to be concluded for him with any social act of worship. He had +many anxious prayers yet to offer before his heart would be quiet in +sleep. Especially there was Alec to be prayed for, and his dawtie, +Annie; and in truth the whole town of Glamerton, and the surrounding +parishes--and Scotland, and the world. Indeed sometimes Thomas went +further, and although it is not reported of him that he ever prayed for +the devil, as that worthiest of Scotch clergymen prayed, he yet did +something very like it once or twice, when he prayed for "the haill +universe o' God, an' a' the bein's in't, up and doon, that we ken unco +little about." + + + + + + +CHAPTER LV. + + +The next morning Kate and Alec rose early, to walk before breakfast to +the top of one of the hills, through a young larch-wood which covered +it from head to foot. The morning was cool, and the sun exultant as a +good child. The dew-diamonds were flashing everywhere, none the less +lovely that they were fresh-made that morning. The lark's song was a +cantata with the sun and the wind and the larch-odours, in short, the +whole morning for the words. How the larks did sing that morning! The +only clouds were long pale delicate streaks of lovely gradations in +gray; here mottled, there swept into curves. It was just the morning to +rouse a wild longing for motion, for the sea and its shore, for endless +travel through an endless region of grace and favour, the sun rising no +higher, the dew lingering on every blade, and the lark never wearying +for his nest. Kate longed for some infinitude of change without +vicissitude--ceaseless progress towards a goal endlessly removed! She +did not know that the door into that life might have been easier to +find in that ugly chapel than even here in the vestibule of heaven. + +"My nurse used to call the lark 'Our Lady's hen,'" said Kate. + +"How pretty!" answered Alec, and had no more to say. + +"Are the people of Glamerton very wicked, Alec?" asked Kate, making +another attempt to rouse a conversation. + +"I'm sure I don't know," answered Alec. "I suppose they're no worse +than other people." + +"I thought from Mr Turnbull's sermon that they must be a great deal +worse." + +"Oh! they all preach like that--except good Mr Cowie, and he's dead." + +"Do you think he knew better than the rest of them?" + +"I don't know that. But the missionars do know something that other +people don't know. And that Mr Turnbull always speaks as if he were in +earnest." + +"Yes, he does." + +"But there's that fellow Bruce!" + +"Do you mean the man that put us into his seat?" + +"Yes. I _can't_ think what makes my mother so civil to him." + +"Why shouldn't she be?" + +"Well, you see--I can't bear him. And I can't understand my mother. +It's not like her." + +In a moment more they were in a gentle twilight of green, flashed with +streaks of gold. A forest of delicate young larches crowded them in, +their rich brown cones hanging like the knops that looped up their dark +garments fringed with paler green. + +And the scent! What a thing to _invent_--the smell of a larch wood! It +is the essence of the earth-odour, distilled in the thousand-fold +alembics of those feathery trees. And the light winds that awoke blew +murmurous music, so sharply and sweetly did that keen foliage divide +the air. + +Having gazed their fill on the morning around them, they returned to +breakfast, and after breakfast they went down to the river. They stood +on the bank, over one of the deepest pools, in the bottom of which the +pebbles glimmered brown. Kate gazed into it abstracted, fascinated, +swinging her neckerchief in her hand. Something fell into the water. + +"Oh!" she cried, "what shall I do? It was my mother's." + +The words were scarcely out of her mouth when Alec was in the water. +Bubbles rose and broke as he vanished. Kate did not scream, but stood, +pale, with parted lips, staring into the pool. With a boiling and +heaving of the water, he rose triumphant, holding up the brooch. Kate +gave a cry and threw herself on the grass. When Alec reached her, she +lay sobbing, and would not lift her head. + +"You are very unkind, Alec," she said at last, looking up. "What will +your mother say?" + +And she hid her face and began to sob afresh. + +"It was your mother's brooch," answered Alec. + +"Yes, yes; but we could have got it out somehow." + +"No other how.--I would have done that for any girl. You don't know +what I would do for _you_, Kate." + +"You shouldn't have frightened me. I had been thinking how greedy the +pool looked," said Kate, rising now, as if she dared not remain longer +beside it. + +"I didn't mean to frighten you, Kate. I never thought of it. I am +almost a water-rat." + +"And now you'll get your death of cold. Come along." + +Alec laughed. He was in no hurry to go home. But she seized his hand +and half-dragged him all the way. He had never been so happy in his +life. + +Kate had cried because he had jumped into the water! + +That night they had a walk in the moonlight. It was all moon--the air +with the mooncore in it; the trees confused into each other by the +sleep of her light; the bits of water, so many moons over again; the +flowers, all pale phantoms of flowers: the whole earth, transfused with +reflex light, was changed into a moon-ghost of its former self. They +were walking in the moon-world. + +The silence and the dimness sank into Alec's soul, and it became silent +and dim too. The only sound was the noise of the river, quenched in +that light to the sleepy hush of moon-haunted streams. + +Kate felt that she had more room now. And yet the scope of her vision +was less, for the dusk had closed in around her. + +She had ampler room because the Material had retired as behind a veil, +leaving the Immaterial less burdened, and the imagination more free to +work its will. The Spiritual is ever putting on material garments; but +in the moonlight, the Material puts on spiritual garments. + +Kate sat down at the foot of an old tree which stood alone in one of +the fields. Alec threw himself on the grass, and looked up in her face, +which was the spirit-moon shining into his world, and drowning it in +dreams.--The Arabs always call their beautiful women _moons_.--Kate sat +as silent as the moon in heaven, which rained down silence. And Alec +lay gazing at Kate, till silence gave birth to speech: + +"Oh Kate! How I love you!" he said. + +Kate started. She was frightened. Her mind had been full of gentle +thoughts. Yet she laid her hand on his arm and accepted the love.--But +how? + +"You dear boy!" she said. + +Perhaps Kate's answer was the best she could have given. But it stung +Alec to the heart, and they went home in a changed silence.--The +resolution she came to upon the way was not so good as her answer. + +She did not love Alec so. He could not understand her; she could not +look up to him. But he was only a boy, and therefore would not suffer +much. He would forget her as soon as she was out of his sight. So as he +was a very dear boy, she would be as kind to him as ever she could, for +she was going away soon. + +She did not see that Alec would either take what she gave for more than +she gave, or else turn from it as no gift at all. + +When they reached the house, Alec, recovering himself a little, +requested her to sing. She complied at once, and was foolish enough to +sing the following + + BALLAD. + + It is May, and the moon leans down all night + Over a blossomy land. + By her window sits the lady white, + With her chin upon her hand. + + "O sing to me, dear nightingale, + The song of a year ago; + I have had enough of longing and wail, + Enough of heart-break and woe. + + O glimmer on me, my apple-tree, + Like living flakes of snow; + Let odour and moonlight and melody + In the old rich harmony flow." + + The dull odours stream; the cold blossoms gleam; + And the bird will not be glad. + The dead never speak when the living dream-- + They are too weak and sad. + + She listened and sate, till night grew late, + Bound by a weary spell. + Then a face came in at the garden-gate, + And a wondrous thing befell. + + Up rose the joy as well as the love, + In the song, in the scent, in the show! + The moon grew glad in the sky above, + The blossom grew rosy below. + + The blossom and moon, the scent and the tune, + In ecstasy rise and fall. + But they had no thanks for the granted boon, + For the lady forgot them all. + +There was no light in the room except that of the shining air. Alec sat +listening, as if Kate were making and meaning the song. But +notwithstanding the enchantment of the night, all rosy in the red glow +of Alec's heart; notwithstanding that scent of gilly-flowers and +sweet-peas stealing like love through every open door and window; +notwithstanding the radiance of her own beauty, Kate was only singing a +song. It is sad to have all the love and all the mystery to +oneself--the other being the centre of the glory, and yet far beyond +its outmost ring, sitting on a music-stool at a common piano +old-fashioned and jingling, not in fairyland at all in fact, or even +believing in its presence. + +But that night the moon was in a very genial humour, and gave her light +plentiful and golden. She would even dazzle a little, if one looked at +her too hard. Sho could not dazzle Tibbie though, who was seated with +Annie on the pale green grass, with the moon about them in the air and +beneath them in the water. + +"Ye say it's a fine munelicht nicht, Annie." + +"Ay, 'deed is't. As bonnie a nicht as ever I saw." + +"Weel, it jist passes my comprehension--hoo ye can see, whan the air's +like this. I' the winter ye canna see, for it's aye cauld whan the +sun's awa; and though it's no cauld the nicht, I fin' that there's no +licht i' the air--there's a differ; it's deid-like. But the soun' o' +the water's a' the same, and the smell o' some o' the flowers is +bonnier i' the nicht nor i' the day. That's a' verra weel. But hoo ye +can see whan the sun's awa, I say again, jist passes my comprehension." + +"It's the mune, ye ken, Tibbie." + +"Weel, what's the mune? I dinna fin' 't. It mak's no impress upo' +me.--Ye _canna_ see sae weel's ye say, lass!" exclaimed Tibbie, at +length, in a triumph of incredulity and self assertion. + +"Weel, gin ye winna believe me o' yer ain free will, Tibbie, I maun +jist gar ye," said Annie. And she rose, and running into the cottage, +fetched from it a small pocket Bible. + +"Noo, ye jist hearken, Tibbie," she said, as she returned. And, opening +the Bible, she read one of Tibbie's favourite chapters, rather slowly +no doubt, but with perfect correctness. + +"Weel, lassie, I canna mak heid or tail o' 't." + +"I'll tell ye, Tibbie, what the mune aye minds me o'. The face o' God's +like the sun, as ye hae tellt me; for no man cud see him and live." + +"That's no sayin', ye ken," interposed Tibbie, "that we canna see him +efter we're deid." + +"But the mune," continued Annie, disregarding Tibbie's interruption, +"maun be like the face o' Christ, for it gies licht and ye can luik at +it notwithstandin'. The mune's jist like the sun wi' the ower-muckle +taen oot o' 't. Or like Moses wi' the veil ower's face, ye ken. The +fowk cudna luik at him till he pat the veil on." + +"Na, na, lass; that winna do; for ye ken his coontenance was as the sun +shineth in his strenth." + +"Ay, but that was efter the resurrection, ye ken. I'm thinkin' there +had been a kin' o' a veil ower his face a' the time he was upo' the +earth; and syne whan he gaed whaur there war only heavenly een to luik +at him, een that could bide it, he took it aff." + +"Weel, I wadna wonner. Maybe ye're richt. And gin ye _be_ richt, that +accounts for the Transfiguration. He jist lifted the veil aff o' 'm a +wee, and the glory aneath it lap oot wi' a leme like the lichtnin'. But +that munelicht! I can mak naething o' 't." + +"Weel, Tibbie, I canna mak you oot ony mair nor ye can the munelicht. +Whiles ye appear to ken a' thing aboot the licht, an' ither whiles +ye're clean i' the dark." + +"Never ye min' me, lass. I s' be i' the licht some day. Noo we'll gang +in to the hoose." + + + + + + +CHAPTER LVI. + + +Murdoch Malison, the schoolmaster, was appointed to preach in the +parish church the following Sunday. He had never preached there, for he +had been no favourite with Mr Cowie. Now, however, that the good man +was out of the way, they gave him a chance, and he caught at it, though +not without some misgivings. In the school-desk, "he was like a maister +or a pope;" but the pulpit--how would he fill that? Two resolutions he +came to; the first that he would not read his sermon, but _commit_ it +and deliver it as like the extempore utterance of which he was +incapable as might be--a piece of falsehood entirely understood, and +justified by Scotch custom; the second, to take rather more than a hint +from the fashion of preaching now so much in favour amongst the +seceders and missionars: he would be a _Jupiter tonans_, wielding the +forked lightnings of the law against the sins of Glamerton. + +So, on the appointed day, having put on a new suit of black, and the +gown over it, he ascended the pulpit stairs, and, conscious of a +strange timidity, gave out the psalm. He cast one furtive glance +around, as he took his seat for the singing, and saw a number of former +as well as present pupils gathered to hear him, amongst whom were the +two Truffeys, with their grandfather seated between them. He got +through the prayer very well, for he was accustomed to that kind of +thing in the school. But when he came to the sermon, he found that to +hear boys repeat their lessons and punish them for failure, did not +necessarily stimulate the master's own memory. + +He gave out his text: The Book of the Prophet Joel, first chapter, +fourth verse. Joel, first and fourth. "That which the palmer-worm hath +left, hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left, hath +the canker-worm eaten; and that which the canker-worm hath left, hath +the caterpillar eaten." + +Now if he could have read his sermon, it would have shown itself a most +creditable invention. It had a general introduction upon the temporal +punishment of sin; one head entitled, "The completeness of the +infliction;" and another, "The punishment of which this is the type;" +the latter showing that those little creeping things were not to be +compared to the great creeping thing, namely, the worm that never dies. +These two heads had a number of horns called _particulars_; and a tail +called an _application_, in which the sins of his hearers were duly +chastised, with vague and awful threats of some vengeance not confined +to the life to come, but ready to take present form in such a judgment +as that described in the text. + +But he had resolved not to read his sermon. So he began to repeat it, +with sweeps of the hands, pointings of the fingers, and other such +tricks of second-rate actors, to aid the self-delusion of his hearers +that it was a genuine present outburst from the soul of Murdoch +Malison. For they all knew as well as he did, that his sermon was only +"cauld kail het again." But some family dishes--Irish stew, for +example, or Scotch broth--may be better the second day than the first; +and where was the harm? All concerned would have been perfectly +content, if he had only gone on as he began. But, as he approached the +second head, the fear suddenly flashed through his own that he would +not be able to recall it; and that moment all the future of his sermon +was a blank. He stammered, stared, did nothing, thought nothing--only +felt himself in hell. Roused by the sight of the faces of his hearers +growing suddenly expectant at the very moment when he had nothing more +to give them, he gathered his seven fragmentary wits, and as a last +resort, to which he had had a vague regard in putting his manuscript in +his pocket, resolved to read the remainder. But in order to give the +change of mode an appearance of the natural and suitable, he managed +with a struggle to bring out the words: + +"But, my brethren, let us betake ourselves to the written testimony." + +Every one concluded he was going to quote from Scripture; but instead +of turning over the leaves of the Bible, he plunged his hand into the +abysses of his coat. Horror of horrors for the poor autocrat!--the +pocket was as empty as his own memory; in fact it was a mere typical +pocket, typical of the brains of its owner. The cold dew of agony broke +over him; he turned deadly pale; his knees smote one another; but he +made yet, for he was a man of strong will, a final frantic effort to +bring his discourse down the inclined plane of a conclusion. + +"In fine," he stammered "my beloved brethren, if you do not repent and +be converted and return to the Lord, you will--you will--you will have +a very bad harvest." + +Having uttered this solemn prediction, of the import of which he, like +some other prophets, knew nothing before he uttered it, Murdoch Malison +sat down, _a stickit minister_. His brain was a vacuum; and the thought +of standing up again to pray was intolerable. No more could he sit +there; for if he sat, the people would sit too. Something must be done, +and there was nobody to do anything. He must get out and then the +people would go home. But how could he escape? He durst not go down +that pulpit stair in the sight of the congregation.--He cared no more +for his vanished reputation. His only thought was how to get out. + +Meantime the congregation was variously affected. Some held down their +heads and laughed immoderately. These were mostly of Mr Malison's +scholars, the fine edge of whose nature, if it ever had any, had +vanished under the rasp of his tortures. Even Alec, who, with others of +the assembly, held down his head from sympathetic shame, could not help +remembering how the master had made Annie Anderson stand upon the form, +and believing for the time in a general retribution in kind. + +Andrew Truffey was crying bitterly. His sobs were heard through the +church, and some took them for the sobs of Murdoch Malison, who had +shrunk into the pulpit like a snail into its shell, so that not an atom +of his form was to be seen except from the side-galleries. The maiden +daughter of the late schoolmaster gave a shriek, and went into a small +fit; after which an awful, quite sepulchral silence reigned for a few +moments, broken only by those quivering sobs from Truffey, whom his +grandfather was feebly and ineffectually shaking. + +At length the precentor, George Macwha, who had for some time been +turning over the leaves of his psalm-book, came to the rescue. He rose +in the lectern and gave out _The hundred and fifty-first psalm_. The +congregation could only find a hundred and fifty, and took the last of +the psalms for the one meant. But George, either from old spite against +the tormentor of boys and girls, or from mere coincidence--he never +revealed which--had chosen in reality a part of the _fifty-first_ +psalm. + +"The hunner an' fifty-first psalm," repeated George, "from the fifteent +verse. An' syne we'll gang hame. + + My closed lips, O Lord, by thee, + Let them be opened." + +As soon as the singing was over, George left the desk, and the +congregation following his example, went straggling out of the church, +and home, to wait with doubtful patience for the broth which as yet +could taste only of onions and the stone that scoured the pot. + +As soon as the sounds of retiring footsteps were heard no more in the +great echoing church, uprose, like one of Dante's damned out of a +torture-tomb, the form of Murdoch Malison, above the edge of the +pulpit. With face livid as that of a corpse, he gave a scared look +around, and not seeing little Truffey concealed behind one of the +pillars, concluded the place empty, and half crawled, half tumbled down +the stair to the vestry, where the sexton was waiting him. It did not +restore his lost composure to discover, in searching for his +handkerchief, that the encumbrance of the gown had made him put his +hand ten times into the same pocket, instead of five times into each, +and that in the other his manuscript lay as safe as it had been +useless. + +But he took his gown off very quietly, put on his coat and forgot the +bands, bade the old sexton a gentle _good day_, and stole away home +through the streets. He had wanted to get out, and now he wanted to get +in; for he felt very much as Lady Godiva would have felt if her hair or +her heroism had proved unworthy of confidence. + +Poor Murdoch had no mother and no wife; he could not go home and be +comforted. Nor was he a youth, to whom a first failure might be of +small consequence. He was five and forty, and his head was sprinkled +with grey; he was schoolmaster, and everybody knew him; he had boys +under him. As he walked along the deserted streets, he felt that he was +running the gauntlet of scorn; but every one who saw him coming along +with his head sunk on his bosom, drew back from the window till he had +gone by. Returning to the window to look after him, they saw, about +twenty yards behind him, a solitary little figure, with the tears +running down its face, stumping slowly step by step, and keeping the +same distance, after the dejected master. + +When Mr Malison went into the vestry, Truffey had gone into the porch, +and there staid till he passed on his way home. Then with stealthily +set crutch, putting it down as the wild beast sets down his miching +paw, out sprang Truffey and after the master. But however silently +Truffey might use his third leg, the master heard the _stump stump_ +behind him, and felt that he was followed home every foot of the way by +the boy whom he had crippled. He felt, too, in some dim degree which +yet had practical results, that the boy was taking divine vengeance +upon him, heaping on his head the coals of that consuming fire which is +love, which is our God. And when the first shame was over, the thought +of Truffey came back with healing on his lonely heart. + +When he reached his own door, he darted in and closed it behind, as if +to shut out the whole world through which he had passed with that +burden of contempt upon his degraded shoulders. He was more ashamed of +his failure than he had been sorry for laming Truffey. But the shame +would pass; the sorrow would endure. + +Meantime two of his congregation, sisters, poor old _mutched wifies_, +were going home together. They were distantly related to the +schoolmaster, whom they regarded as the honour of the family, as their +bond of relation with the world above them in general and with the +priesthood in particular. So when Elspeth addressed Meg with reference +to the sermon in a manner which showed her determination to acknowledge +no failure, Meg took her cue directly. + +"Eh! woman; it's a sair ootluik for puir fowk like us, gin things be +gaein that gait!" + +"And 'deed it's that, lass! Gin the hairst be gaein to the moles and +the bats, it's time we war awa hame; for it'll be a cauld winter." + +"Ay, that it will! The minister was sair owercome at the prospec', +honest man. It was a' he cud do, to win at the en' o' his discoorse ohn +grutten ootricht." + +"He sees into the will o' the Almichty. He's far ben wi' Him--that's +verra clear." + +"Ay, lass, ay." + +And hence, by slow degrees, in the middle of the vague prophecies of +vengeance gathered a more definite kernel of prediction, believed by +some, disbelieved, yet feared, by others--that the harvest would be so +eaten of worms and blasted with smut, that bread would be up to famine +prices, and the poor would die of starvation. + +But still the flowers came out and looked men in the face and went in +again; and still the sun shone on the evil and on the good, and still +the rain fell on the just and on the unjust. + +And still the denunciations from the pulpits went on; but the human +souls thus exposed to the fires seemed only to harden under their +influences. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LVII. + + +Before the period of Kate's visit arrived, a letter from Professor +Fraser, to the purport that if Mrs Forbes did not mind keeping Kate a +little longer he would be greatly indebted to her, came to Alec like a +reprieve from execution. And the _little longer_ lengthened into the +late harvest of that country. + +The summer shone on, and the corn grew, green and bonnie. And Alec's +love grew with the corn; and Kate liked him better and better, but was +not a whit more inclined to fall in love with him. + +One night, after the house was quiet, Alec, finding he could not sleep, +rose and went out to play the ghost a while. It was a sultry night. +Great piles of cloud were heaped up in the heavens. The moon gleamed +and vanished by fits, looking old and troubled when she sighed herself +out of a cloud. + +"There's a storm coming," said Alec to himself; and watched and waited. +There was no wind below. The leaves of the black poplar, so ready to +tremble, hung motionless; and not a bat came startling on its unheard +skinny wing. But ere long a writhing began in the clouds overhead, and +they were twisted and torn about the moon. Then came a blinding flash, +and a roar of thunder, followed by a bellowing, as if the air were a +great dram, on which Titanic hands were beating and rolling. Then the +rain poured down, and the scent of the earth rose into the air. Alec +ran to look up at Kate's window. His heart bounded when he saw a white +figure looking out into the stormy dark. + +"Kate! Kate!" he cried, in a loud whisper, "come out--do come out. It's +so splendid!" + +She started and drew back. Presently she reappeared, and opening the +window, said, + +"Alec! do come in." + +"No, no. You come out, Kate. You don't know what it's like. You have +only to get into bed again." + +Kate hesitated. But in a moment more she withdrew. Alec saw she meant +to come, and flew round to the door. In a few minutes she glided +silently out, and fronted the black sky. The same moment another flash, +in which her spirit seemed to her to be universal, flung the darkness +aside. She could have counted the houses of Glamerton. The hills rose +up within her very soul. The Glamour shone in silver. The harvest +gleamed in green. The larch-forest hung like a cloud on the horizon. +Then the blank dark folded again its scared wings over the world; and +the trees rustled their leaves with one wavy sweep, and were still. And +again the rain came down in a tumult--warm, genial summer rain, full of +the life of lightning. Alec stood staring through the dull dark, as if +he would see Kate by the force of his will alone. The tempest in the +heavens had awaked a like tempest in his bosom: would the bosom beside +his receive his lightning and calm his pent-up storm by giving it space +to rave? His hand took hers beseechingly. Another flash came, and he +saw her face. The whole glory of the night gloomed and flashed and +flowed in that face. But alas! its response was to the stormy heaven +alone, not to the stormy human soul. As the earth answers the heaven +with lightning of her own, so Kate, herself a woman-storm, responded to +the elemental cry. + +Her shawl had fallen back, and he saw a white arm uplifted, bare to the +shoulder, gleaming through the night, and an eye flashing through the +flood that filled it. He could not mistake her passion. He knew that it +was not for him; that she was a harp played upon by the elements; yet, +passioned still more with her passion, he cried aloud, + +"Oh, Kate! if you do not love me I shall die." + +Kate started, and sought to take her hand from his, but she could not. + +"Let me go, Alec," she said, pleadingly. + +His fingers relaxed, and she sped into the house like a bird, leaving +him standing in the night. + +There was no more lightning. The rain fell heavy and persistent. The +wind rose. And when the dawn came, the clouds were drifting over the +sky; and the day was a wet gray fringy mass of wind and rain and cloud, +tossing trees, and corn hard bested. + +He rose and dragged himself away. He had thrown himself upon the grass, +and had burned there till his exhausted feelings lay like smouldering +fire under the pale ashes of the dawn. + +When Kate made her appearance at breakfast she looked bright and cold. +She had told his mother about last night, though how much he could only +guess. When he asked her whether he might not read to her, she only +said, + +"If you like." + +Whereupon he did not like. + +It was a dreary day. He crept about the house like a child in disgrace, +and the darkness seemed an age in coming. When the candles were +brought, he went to bed; and when his mother went up, she found him +asleep, but feverish. When he woke he was delirious. + +For a week there was nothing but wet and windy weather. Alec was in +bed. Kate was unhappy. Mrs Forbes was anxious. + +The corn was badly lodged. Patches lay prone, tangled, spiky, and +rough; and it was evident that if sunshine, strong, healthy sunshine, +did not soon break out, the wretched mooncalf-prediction of Murdoch +Malison would come true, for the corn, instead of ripening, would start +a fresh growth, and the harvest would be a very bad one indeed, whether +the people of Glamerton repented or not. + +But after a grievous week, that blessed sunshine did come. The corn +rose up from its low estate, looked at the sun, gathered heart, and +began to ripen diligently. + +But Alec was very ill, and did not see Kate for weeks. + +Through his wanderings--so strangely does the thousand times +o'erwritten palimpsest of the brain befool the mind and even the +passions by the redawning of old traces--he talked on about Annie and +their schooldays with Mr Malison, and never mentioned Kate. + +Annie went often to inquire after him, and Mrs Forbes behaved to her +with her old kindness--just a little diluted by anxiety and the +possession of Kate. + +When Annie thought with herself what she could do for him, she could +never think of anything except saying _sangs_ to him. But the time for +that was long gone by. So, like many other devotions, hers found no +outlet but in asking how he was. + +At length, one day, he was brought down to the dining-room and laid +upon the sofa. Then for the first time since his illness he saw Kate, +He looked in her face pitifully and kissed her hand. She put her face +down to his. The blood surged up into his cheek, and the light into his +eyes, and he murmured: + +"That is worth being ill for, Kate. I would be ill again for that." + +She could only say _hush_, and then kiss him again, lest he should be +hurt, thinking with a soundless sigh: + +"I shall be forced to marry him some day." + +And he was neither her own virgin-born ideal; nor had his presence the +power to beget another and truer ideal in her brain. + +From that day he made rapid progress. Kate would read to him for hours; +and when for love and weakness--an ill-matched pair--he could not look +in her face any more, he would yet lie and listen, till her voice +filled him with repose, and he slept in music. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LVIII. + + +On the Monday morning after his terrible failure Mr Malison felt almost +too ill to go to the school. But he knew that if he gave in he must +leave the place. And he had a good deal of that courage which enables a +man to front the inevitable, and reap, against his liking, the benefits +that spring from every fate steadfastly encountered. So he went, +keeping a calm exterior over the shame and mortification that burned +and writhed within him. He prayed the morning prayer, falteringly but +fluently; called up the Bible-class; corrected their blunders with an +effort over himself which imparted its sternness to the tone of the +correction and made him seem oblivious of his own, though in truth the +hardest task he had ever had was to find fault that Monday; in short, +did everything as usual, except bring out the _tag_. How could he +punish failure who had himself so shamefully failed in the sight of +them all? And, to the praise of Glamerton be it recorded, never had +there been a quieter day, one of less defiance of law, than that day of +the master's humiliation. In the afternoon Andrew Truffey laid a +splendid bunch of cottage-flowers on his desk, and the next morning it +was so crowded with offerings of the same sort that he had quite a +screen behind which to conceal his emotion. + +Wonderful, let me say once more, is the divine revenge! The children +would wipe away the humiliation of their tyrant. His desk, the symbol +of merciless law, the ark containing no pot of manna, only the rod that +never budded, became an altar heaped with offerings, behind which the +shamed divinity bowed his head and acknowledged a power greater than +that of stripes--overcome by his boys, who hated spelling and figures, +hated yet more the Shorter Catechism, could hardly be brought to read +the book of Leviticus with decency, and hated to make bricks without +straw; and yet, forgetting it all, loved the man beneath whose lashes +they had writhed in torture. In his heart the master vowed, with a new +love which loosed the millstone of many offences against the little +ones, that had for years been hanging about his neck--vowed that, be +the shame what it might, he would never leave them, but spend his days +in making up for the hardness of his heart and hand; vowed that he +would himself be good, and so make them good; that he would henceforth +be their friend, and let them know it. Blessed failure ending in such a +victory! Blessed purgatorial pulpit! into which he entered full of self +and self-ends; and from which he came down disgusted with that paltry +self as well as its deserved defeat. The gates of its evil fortress +were now undefended, for Pride had left them open in scorn; and Love, +in the form of flower-bearing children, rushed into the citadel. The +heart of the master was forced to yield, and the last state of that man +was better than the first. + +"Swift Summer into the Autumn flowed," and yet there was no sign of the +coming vengeance of heaven. The green corn turned pale at last before +the gaze of the sun. The life within had done its best and now shrunk +back to the earth, leaving the isolated life of its children to the +ripening of the heavens. Anxious farmers watched their fields, and +joyfully noted every shade of progress. All day the sun shone strong; +and all night the moon leaned down from heaven to see how things were +going on, and keep the work gently moving, till the sun should return +to take it up again. Before he came, a shadowy frost would just breathe +on the earth, which, although there was only death in its chill, yet +furthered the goings on of life in repelling the now useless sap, and +so helping the sun to dry the ripening ears. At length the new +revelation of ancient life was complete, and the corn stood in living +gold, and men began to put in the sickle, because the time of the +harvest was come. + +And with it came the _hairst-play_, the event of school-life both to +master and scholars. But the feelings with which the master watched and +longed for it were sadly different from those of the boys. It was +delight itself to the latter to think of having nothing to do on those +glorious hot days but gather blaeberries, or lie on the grass, or bathe +in the Glamour and dry themselves in the sun ten times a day. For the +master, he only hoped to get away from the six thousand eyes of +Glamerton. Not one allusion had been made in his hearing to his dismal +degradation, but he knew that that was only because it was too dreadful +to be alluded to. Every time he passed a woman with a baby in her arms +at a cottage door, the blind eyes in the back of his head saw her +cuddling her child, and the ears that are always hearing what never was +said, heard her hope that _he_ would never bring such disgrace upon +himself and upon her. The tone of additional kindness and consideraton +with which many addressed him, only made him think of what lay behind, +and refuse every invitation given him. But if he were once "in secret +shadow far from all men's sight," his oppressed heart would begin to +revive, and he might gather strength enough to face with calmness what +he would continue to face somehow, in the performance of his arrears of +duty to the boys and girls of Glamerton. + +Can one ever bring up arrears of duty? Can one ever make up for wrong +done? Will not heaven be an endless repentance? + +It would need a book to answer the first two of these questions. To the +last of them I answer, "Yes--but a glad repentance." + +At length the slow hour arrived. Longing thoughts had almost +obliterated the figures upon Time's dial, and made it look a hopeless +undivided circle of eternity. But at length twelve o'clock on Saturday +came; and the delight would have been almost unendurable to some, had +it not been calmed by the dreary proximity of the Sabbath lying between +them and freedom. To add to their joy, there was no catechism that day. +The prayer, although a little longer than usual, was yet over within a +minute after the hour. And almost as soon as the _Amen_ was out of the +master's mouth, the first boys were shouting jubilantly in the open +air. Truffey, who was always the last, was crutching it out after the +rest, when he heard the master's voice calling him back. He obeyed it +with misgiving--so much had fear become a habit. + +"Ask your grandfather, Andrew, if he will allow you to go down to the +seaside with me for a fortnight or three weeks," said the master. + +"Yes, sir," Truffey meant to say, but the attempt produced in reality +an unearthly screech of delight, with which he went off on a series of +bounds worthy of a kangaroo, lasting all the way to his grandfather's, +and taking him there in half the usual time. + +And the master and Truffey did go down to the sea together. The master +borrowed a gig and hired a horse and driver; and they sat all three in +the space meant for two, and their boxes went by the carrier. To happy +Truffey a lame leg or two was not to be compared with the exultant +glory of that day. Was he not the master's friend henceforth? And was +he not riding in a gig--bliss supreme? And was not the harvest around +them, the blue tent of the sun over their heads, and the sea somewhere +before them? Truffey was prouder than Mr Malison could have been if, +instead of the result of that disastrous Sunday, he had been judged to +surpass Mr Turnbull in pulpit gifts, as he did in scholastic +acquirements. And if there be as much joy in the universe, what matter +how it be divided!--whether the master be raised from the desk to the +pulpit, or Truffey have a ride in a gig! + +About this time Tibbie, sitting too late one evening upon the grass, +caught a bad cold and cough, and was for a fortnight confined to bed. +Within two days Annie became her constant companion--that is, from the +moment _the play_ commenced. + +"I tell't ye I wad hae the licht afore lang," she said the first time +Annie came to her. + +"Hoots, Tibbie! It's only an ill caud an' a host," said Annie, who from +being so much with her and Thomas had caught the modes of an elderly +woman. "Ye maunna be doonhertit." + +"Doonhertit! The lassie's haverin'! Wha daured to say that I was +doonhertit within sicht o' the New Jerusalem? Order yer words better, +lassie, or else haud yer tongue." + +"I beg yer pardon, Tibbie. It was ill-considered. But ye see hooever +willin' ye may be to gang, we're nane sae willin' to lat gang the grip +o' ye." + +"Ye'll be a hantle better withoot me, lass. Oh, my heid! And the host's +jist like to rive me in bits, as the prophets rave their claes whan the +fowk contred them ower sair to bide. Aweel! This body's nothing but a +wheen claes to my sowl; and no verra weel made either, for the holes +for my een war forgotten i' the makin'.--I'm bit jokin', lassie; for it +was the Lord's han' that made and mismade my claes; and I'm weel +willin' to wear them as lang's he likes. Jist mak a drappy o' stoorum +to me. Maybe it'll ile my thrapple a bit. I winna be lang ahin Eppie +Shawn." + +That was the woman who had occupied the other end of the cottage and +had died in the spring. + +So Annie waited on Tibbie day and night. And that year, for the first +time since she came to Glamerton, the harvest began without her. But +when Tibbie got a little better, she used to run out now and then to +see what progress the reapers were making. + +One bright forenoon Tibbie, feeling better, said to her, + +"Noo, bairn, I'm a hantle better the day, and ye maun jist rin oot and +play yersel'. Ye're but a bairn, though ye hae the wit o' a wumman. +Ye'll be laid up yersel' gin ye dinna get a stammachfu' o' the caller +air noo and than. Sae jist rin awa', an' dinna lat me see ye afore +denner-time." + +At Howglen, there happened, this year, to be a field of oats not far +from the house, the reaping of which was to begin that day. It was very +warm, and glorious with sunshine. So, after a few stooks had been set +up, Alec crawled out with the help of his mother and Kate, and lay down +on some sheaves, sheltered from the sun by a stook, and watched. The +men and women and corn leaned all one way. The oats hung their curved +heads of little pendulous bells, and gave out a low murmuring +sibilation--its only lament that its day was over, and sun and wind no +more for it. Through the high stalks gleamed now and then the lowly +corn flower, and he watched for the next blue star that would shine out +as they cut the golden cloud away. But the sun rose till the stook +could shelter him no more. First came a flickering of the shadows of +the longest heads athwart his face, and then the sun shone full upon +him. His mother and Kate had left him for a while, and, too weak or too +lazy to move, he lay with closed eyes, wishing that some one would come +to his help. Nor had he to wait long. A sudden shadow came over him. +When he looked up to find the source of the grateful relief, he could +see nothing but an apron held up in two little hands behind the +stook--hiding both the sun and the face of the helper. + +"Who's there?" he asked. + +"It's me--Annie Anderson," came from behind the un-moving apron. + +Now why would not Alec accept this attention from Annie? + +"Dinna stan' there, Annie," he said. "I dinna want it. My mother will +be here in a minute. I see her comin'." + +Annie dropped her arms, and turned away in silence. If Alec could have +seen her face, he would have been sorry that he had refused her +service. She vanished in a moment, so that Mrs Forbes and Kate never +saw her. They sat down beside him so as to shelter him, and he fell +fast asleep. When he woke, he found his head in Kate's lap, and her +parasol casting a cool green shadow over him. His mother had gone +again. Having made these discoveries, he closed his eyes, and +pretending to be still asleep, lay in a waking dream. But dreams +themselves must come to an end. Kate soon saw that his face was awake, +although his eyes were closed. + +"I think it is time we went into the house, Alec," she said. "You have +been asleep nearly an hour." + +"Happy so long, and not know it?" returned he, looking up at her from +where he lay. + +Kate blushed a little. I think she began to feel that he was not quite +a boy. But he obeyed her like a child, and they went in together. + +When Annie vanished among the stooks after the rejection of her offered +shadow, a throbbing pain at her heart kept her from returning to the +reapers. She wandered away up the field towards a little old cottage, +in which some of the farm servants resided. She knew that Thomas Crann +was at work there, and found him busy rough-casting the outside of it. + +"Ye're busy harlin', Thomas," said Annie, for the sake of saying +something. + +"Ay, jist helpin' to mak' a heepocreet," answered Thomas, with a nod +and a grim smile, as he threw a trowelful of mortar mixed with small +pebbles against the wall. + +"What mean ye by that?" rejoined Annie. + +"Gin ye kent this auld bothie as weel as I do, ye wadna need to spier +that question. It sud hae been pu'ed doon fra the riggin to the +fundation a century afore noo. And here we're pittin a clean face upo' +'t, garrin' 't luik as gin it micht stan' anither century, and nobody +had a richt to luik asclent at it." + +"It _luiks_ weel eneuch." + +"I tell't ye that I was makin' a heepocreet. There's no a sowl wants +this hoose to stan' but the mistress doon there, that doesna want to +waur the siller, and the rottans inside the wa's o' 't, that doesna +want to fa' into the cluiks o' Bawdrins and Colley--wha lie in wait for +sic like jist as the deevil does for the sowl o' the heepocreet.--Come +oot o' the sun, lassie. This auld hoose is no a'thegither a heepocreet: +it can haud the sun aff o' ye yet." + +Thomas had seen Annie holding her hand to her head, an action +occasioned partly by the heat and partly by the rebuff Alec had given +her. She stepped into the shadow beside him. + +"Isna the warl' fu' o' bonnie things cheap?" Thomas went on. "The sun's +fine and het the day. And syne whan he's mair nor we can bide, there's +lots o' shaidows lyin' aboot upo' the face o' the warl'; though they +say there's some countries whaur they're scarce, and the shaidow o' a +great rock's thought something o' in a weary lan'? But we sudna think +less o' a thing 'cause there's plenty o' 't. We hae a heap o' the +gospel, but we dinna think the less o' 't for that. Because ye see it's +no whether shaidows be dear or no that we think muckle or little o' +them, but whether we be richt het and tired whan we win till ane o' +them. It's that 'at maks the differ." + +Sorrow herself will reveal one day that she was only the beneficent +shadow of Joy. + +Will Evil ever show herself the beneficent shadow of Good? + +"Whaur got Robert Bruce that gran' Bible, Annie, do ye ken?" resumed +Thomas, after whitening his hypocrite in silence for a few moments. + +"That's my Bible, Thomas. Auld Mr Cowie gae't to me whan he was lyin' +near-han' deith." + +"Hm! hm! ay! ay! And hoo cam' 't that ye didna tak' it and pit it i' +yer ain kist?" + +"Maister Bruce tuik it and laid it i' the room as sune's I brocht it +hame." + +"Did Maister Cowie say onything to ye aboot onything that was in't, +no?" + +"Ay, did he. He spak' o' a five-poun' note that he had pitten in't. But +whan I luikit for't, I cudna fin' 't." + +"Ay! ay! Whan did ye luik for't?" + +"I forgot it for twa or three days--maybe a week." + +"Do ye min' that Sunday nicht that twa or three o' 's cam hame wi' +Bruce, and had worship wi' him an' you?" + +"Ay, weel eneuch. It was the first time he read oot o' my Bible." + +"Was't afore or efter that 'at ye luikit for the nott?" + +"It was the neist day; for the sicht o' the Bible pat it i' my min'. I +oughtna to hae thocht aboot it o' the Sawbath; but it cam' o' 'tsel'; +and I didna luik till the Mononday mornin', afore they war up. I reckon +Mr Cowie forgot to pit it in efter a'." + +"Hm! hm! Ay! ay!--Weel, ye see, riches taks to themsels wings and flees +awa'; and sae we maunna set oor herts upo' them, for it's no manner o' +use. We get nothing by 't. The warst bank that a man can lay up his +siller in is his ain hert. And I'll tell ye hoo that is. Ye ken whan +meal's laid up ower lang it breeds worms, and they eat the meal. But +they do little hairm forbye, for they're saft craters, and their teeth +canna do muckle ill to the girnell. But there's a kin' o' roost that +gathers and a kin' o' moth that breeds i' the gowd and siller whan +they're laid up i' the hert; and the roost's an awfu' thing for eatin' +awa', and the moth-craters hae teeth as hard's the siller that breeds +them; and instead o' eatin' the siller, like the meal-worms, they fa' +upo' the girnel itsel'--that's the heart; and afore lang the hert +itsel's roostit awa' wi' the roost, and riddlet through and through wi' +the moths, till it's a naisty fushionless thing, o' no use to God or +man, not even to mak' muck o'. Sic a crater's hardly worth damnin'." + +And Thomas threw trowelful after trowelful of rough-cast upon the wall, +making his hypocrite in all the composure of holy thoughts. And Annie +forgot her trouble in his presence. For Thomas was one of those whom +the prophet foresaw when he said: "And a man shall be as an +hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of +water in a dry place, as a shadow of a great rock in a weary land." I +do not mean that Thomas was felt to be such by all whom he encountered; +for his ambition was to rouse men from the sleep of sin; to set them +face to face with the terrors of Mount Sinai; to "shak' them ower the +mou' o' the pit," till they were all but choked with the fumes of the +brimstone. But he was a shelter to Annie--and to Tibbie also, although +she and he were too much of a sort to appear to the best advantage in +their intercourse. + +"Hoo's Tibbie the day?" said Thomas. + +"She's a wee bit better the day," answered Annie. + +"It's a great preevileege, lassie, and ane that ye'll hae to answer +for, to be sae muckle wi' ane o' the Lord's elec' as ye are wi' Tibbie +Dyster. She's some thrawn (twisted) whiles, but she's a good honest +woman, wha has the glory o' God sair at her hert. And she's tellt me my +duty and my sins in a mainner worthy o' Debohrah the prophetess; and I +aye set mysel' to owercome them as gin they had been the airmy o' +Sisera, wham Jael, the wife o' Heber, the Kenite, killed efter a +weel-deserved but some cooardly faushion." + +Annie did not return to the harvest-field that day. She did not want to +go near Alec again. So, after lingering a while with Thomas, she +wandered slowly across some fields of barley-stubble through which the +fresh young clover was already spreading its soft green. She then went +over the Glamour by the bridge with the three arches, down the path at +the other end, over the single great stone that crossed the dyer's dam, +and so into Tibbie's cottage. + +Had Annie been Robert Bruce's own, she would have had to mind the baby, +to do part of the house work, and, being a wise child, to attend in the +shop during meals, and so expedite the feeding-process which followed +the grace. But Robert Bruce was ignorant of how little Annie knew about +the investment of her property. He took her freedom of action for the +result of the knowledge that she paid her way, whereas Annie followed +her own impulse, and never thought about the matter. Indeed, with the +reticence of Scotch people, none of her friends had given her any +information about her little fortune. Had Bruce known this, there would +have been no work too constant for her, and no liberty too small. + +Thomas did not doubt that Robert Bruce had stolen the note. But he did +not see yet what he ought to do about it. The thing would be hard to +prove, and the man who would steal would lie. But he bitterly regretted +that such a man should have found his way into their communion. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LIX. + + +At length the corn was gathered in, all over the valley of the two +rivers. The wool of the sheep grows again after they are shorn, to keep +them warm in the winter: when the dry stubble sticks up short and +bristly over the fields, to keep them warm "He scattereth his snows +like wool." + +The master returned from the sea-coast, bringing Truffey with him, +radiant with life. Nothing could lengthen that shrunken limb, but in +the other and the crutch together he had more than the function of two. + +And the master was his idol. + +And the master was a happier man. The scene of his late failure had +begun to fade a little from his brain. The expanse of the church and +the waiting people was no longer a vision certain to arise in the +darkness that surrounds sleep. He had been loving and helping; and love +and help had turned into a great joy, whose tide washed from out his +heart the bitterness of his remembered sin. When we love truly, all +oppression of past sin will be swept away. Love is the final atonement, +of which and for which the sacrifice of the atonement was made. And +till this atonement is made in every man, sin holds its own, and God is +not all in all. + +So the earth and all that was therein did the master good. And he came +back able to look people in the face--humble still, but no longer +humiliated. And when the children gathered once more on a Monday +morning, with the sad feeling that the holidays were over, the master's +prayer was different from what it used to be, and the work was less +irksome than before, and school was not so very hateful after all. Even +the Shorter Catechism was not the instrument of torture which it had +been wont to be. The cords of the rack were not strained so tight as +heretofore. + +But the cool bright mornings, and the frosty evenings, with the pale +green sky after sundown, spoke to the heart of Alec of a coming loss. +Not that Kate had ever shown that she loved him, so that he even felt a +restless trouble in her presence which had not been favourable to his +recovery. Yet as he lay in the gloaming, and watched those crows flying +home, they seemed to be bearing something away with them on their black +wings; and as the light sank and paled on the horizon, and the stars +began to condense themselves into sparks amid the sea of green, like +those that fleet phosphorescent when the prow of the vessel troubles +the summer sea, and then the falling stars of September shot across the +darkening sky, he felt that a change was near, that for him winter was +coming before its time. And the trees saw from their high watch-tower +the white robe of winter already drifting up above the far horizon on +the wind that followed his footsteps, and knew what that wind would be +when it howled tormenting over those naked fields. So their leaves +turned yellow and gray, and the frosty red of age was fixed upon them, +and they fell, and lay. + +On one of those bright mornings, which make the head feel so clear, the +limbs so strong, and the heart so sad, the doom fell in the expected +form, that of a letter from the Professor. He was at home at last, and +wanted his niece to mix his toddy, and scold his servants for him, from +both of which enjoyments he said he desired to wean himself in time. +Alec's heart sank within him. + +"Don't go yet, Kate," he said. But he felt that she must go. + +An early day was fixed for her return; and his summer would go with +her. + +The day before her departure they were walking together along one of +the rough parish-roads leading to the hills. + +"Oh, Kate!" exclaimed Alec, all at once, in an outburst of despair, +"what _shall_ I do when you are gone? Everything will look so hateful!" + +"Oh, Alec!" rejoined Kate, in a tone of expostulation. + +"They will all look the same as if you had not gone away!--so +heartless, so selfish!" + +"But I shall see you in November again." + +"Oh, yes. You will see me. But shall I see _you_?--this very _you_? Oh, +Kate! Kate! I feel that you will be different then. You will not look +at me as you do now. You are kind to me because I have been ill. You +pity me for my white face. It is very good of you. But _won't_ you love +me, Kate? I don't deserve it. But I've read so often of beautiful women +loving men who did not deserve it. Perhaps I may be worthy of it some +day. And by that time you will have loved somebody else!" + +He turned involuntarily, and walked towards home. He recovered himself +instantly, however, and returning put his hand on Kate's arm, who was +frightened and anxious. Like a child praying to his mother, he +repeated: + +"_Won't_ you love me, Kate?--Just a little?--How can I go into that +room after you are gone--and all your things out of it? I am not good +enough ever to sleep there again. _Won't_ you love me, Kate? A little?" + +"I do love you dearly. You know that, Alec. Why do you always press me +to say more?" + +"Because I do not like the way you say it." + +"You want me to speak your way, not my own, and be a hypocrite?" + +"Kate! Kate! I understand you too well." + +They walked home in silence. + +Now, although this was sad enough for Alec, yet there was room for +hope. But she was going away, and he would not know what she was doing +or thinking. It was as if she were going to die. Nor was that +all;--for--to misuse the quotation-- + +"For, in that sleep of death, what dreams might come!" + +She might dream of some one, love some one--yes, marry some one, and so +drive him mad. + +When the last night arrived, he followed her up-stairs, and knocked at +her room door, to see her once again, and make one more appeal. Now an +appeal has only to do with justice or pity. With love it is of no use. +With love it is as unavailing as wisdom or gold or beauty. But no lover +believes this. + +There was no answer to the first, the inarticulate appeal. He lost his +courage, and dared not knock again; and while Kate was standing with +her head on one side, and her dress half off, wondering if any one had +knocked, he crept away to his bed ashamed. There was only a partition +of lath and plaster between the two, neither of whom could sleep, but +neither of whom could have given the other any comfort. Not even +another thunder-storm could have brought them together again that +night. + +At length the pitiless dawn, which _will_ come, awoke Alec, and he saw +the last few aged stars wither away as the great young star came up the +hill, the despot who, crowned with day, drives men up and abroad, be +the weather, inside or out, what it may. It was the dreariest dawn Alec +had ever known. + +Kate appeared at breakfast with indescribable signs of preparation +about her. The breakfast was dull and cheerless. The autumn sun was +brilliant. The inevitable gig appeared at the door. Alec was not even +to drive it. He could only help her into it, kiss her gloved hand on +the rail, and see her vanish behind the shrubbery. + +He then turned in stern endurance, rushed up into the very room he had +thought it impossible ever to enter again, caught up a handkerchief she +had left behind her, pressed it to his face, threw himself on her bed, +and--well, he fell fast asleep. + +He woke not so miserable as he had expected. Of this he was so much +ashamed that he tried hard to make himself more miserable, by going +over all the miseries in store for him. But his thoughts would not obey +him. They would take their own way, fly where they pleased, and alight +where they would. And the meeting in November was the most attractive +object in sight.--So easily is Hope born, when the time of her birth is +come! + +But he soon found that Grief is like some maidens: she will not come +when she is called; but if you leave her alone, she will come of +herself. Before the day was over he had sacrificed griefs enough upon +the altar of Love. All at once the whole vacant region rushed in upon +him with a ghostly sense of emptiness and desolation. He wandered about +the dreary house like a phantom about a cenotaph. The flowers having +nothing to say, because they had ceased to mean anything, looked +ashamed of themselves. The sunshine was hastening to have done with it, +and let the winter come as soon as he liked, for there was no more use +in shining like this. And Alec being in love, could feel all this, +although he had not much imagination. For the poetic element has its +share in the most common pug-faced man in creation; and when he is in +love, what of that sort there is in him, as well as what there is of +any sort of good thing, will come to the surface, as the trout do in +the balmy summer evenings. Therefore let every gentle maiden be warned +how she takes such a manifestation of what is in the man for the man +himself. It is the deepest, it is the best in him, but it may not be in +the least his own yet. It is one thing to have a mine of gold in one's +ground, know it, and work it; and another to have the mine still but +regard the story as a fable, throw the aureal hints that find their way +to the surface as playthings to the woman who herself is but a +plaything in the owner's eyes, and mock her when she takes them for +precious. In a word, every man in love shows better than he is, though, +thank God, not better than he is meant to become. + +After Kate's departure, Alec's health improved much more rapidly. Hope, +supplied by his own heart, was the sunlight in which he revived. He had +one advantage over some lovers--that he was no metaphysician. He did +not torture himself with vain attempts to hold his brain as a mirror to +his heart, that he might read his heart there. The heart is deaf and +dumb and blind, but it has more in it--more life and blessedness, more +torture and death--than any poor knowledge-machine of a brain can +understand, or even delude itself into the fancy of understanding. + +From the first, Kate's presence had not been favourable to his +recovery, irrespectively of the excitement and restlessness which it +occasioned; for she was an absorbent rather than a diffuser of life. +Her own unsatisfied nature, her excitableness, her openness to all +influences from the external world, and her incapacity for supplying +her needs in any approximate degree from inward resources; her +consequent changeableness, moodiness, and dependency--were all +unfavourable influences upon an invalid who loved her. + +The first thing he did was to superintend the painting and laying up of +his boat for the winter. It was placed across the rafters of the barn, +wrapt in tarpaulin. + +The light grew shorter and shorter. A few rough rainy days stripped the +trees of their foliage; and although the sun shone out again and made +lovely weather, + +Saint Martin's summer, halcyon days, + +it was plain to all the senses that the autumn was drawing to a close. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LX. + + +All the prophetic rumours of a bad harvest had proved themselves false. +Never a better harvest had been gathered in the strath, nor had one +ever been carried home in superior condition. But the passion for +prophecy had not abated in Glamerton. It was a spiritual epidemic over +the whole district. + +Now a certain wily pedler had turned the matter over and resolved to +make something of it. + +One day there appeared in the streets of Glamerton a man carrying in +his hand a bundle of papers as a sample of what he had in the pack upon +his shoulders. He bore a burden of wrath. They were all hymns and +ballads of a minacious description, now one and now another of which he +kept repeating in lugubrious recitative. Amongst them some of Watts's, +quite unknown to Glamerton worshippers, carried the palm of horror. But +there were others which equalled them in absurdity, although their most +ludicrous portions affected the populace only as a powerful realization +of the vague and awful. One of these had the following stanzas: + + "The dragon's tail shall be the whip + Of scorpions foretold, + With which to lash them thigh and hip + That wander from the fold. + And when their wool is burnt away-- + Their garments gay, I mean-- + Then this same whip they'll feel, I say, + Upon their naked skin." + +The probability seems to be that, besides collecting from all sources +known to him, the pedler had hired an able artist for the production of +original poems of commination. His scheme succeeded; for great was the +sale of these hymns and ballads at a halfpenny a piece in the streets +of Glamerton. Even those who bought to laugh, could not help feeling an +occasional anticipatory sting of which, being sermon-seared, they were +never conscious under pulpit denunciation. + +The pedler having emptied his wallet--not like that of Chaucer's +Pardoner, + + "Bretful of pardon brought from Rome all hot," + +but crammed with damnation brought all hot from a different +place--vanished; and another wonder appeared in the streets of +Glamerton--a man who cried with a loud voice, borrowing the cry of the +ill-tempered prophet: "Yet forty days, and Glamerton shall be +destroyed." + +This cry he repeated at awful intervals of about a minute, walking +slowly through every street, lane, and close of the town. The children +followed him in staring silence; the women gazed from their doors in +awe as he passed. The insanity which gleamed in his eyes, and his pale +long-drawn countenance, heightened the effect of the terrible +prediction. His belief took theirs by storm. + +The men smiled to each other, but could not keep it up in the presence +of their wives and sisters. They said truly that he was only a madman. +But as prophets have always been taken for madmen, so madmen often pass +for prophets; and even Stumpin' Steenie, the town-constable, had too +much respect either to his prophetic claims, or his lunacy, perhaps +both, to take him into custody. So through the streets of Glamerton he +went on his bare feet, with tattered garments, proclaiming aloud the +coming destruction, He walked in the middle of the street, and turned +aside for nothing. The coachman of the Royal Mail had to pull up his +four greys on their haunches to keep them off the defiant prophet, and +leave him to pursue the straight line of his mission. The ministers +warned the people on the following Sunday against false prophets, but +did not say that man was a false prophet, while with their own +denunciations they went on all the same. The chief effects of it all +were excitement and fear. There was little sign of repentance. But the +spiritual physicians did not therefore doubt their exhibition. They +only increased the dose. The prophet appeared one day. He had vanished +the next. + +But within a few days, a still more awful prediction rose, cloud-like, +on the spiritual sky. A placard was found affixed to the doors of every +place of worship in the town, setting forth in large letters that, +according to certain irrefragable calculations from "the number of a +man" and other such of the more definite utterances of Daniel and St +John, the day of judgment must without fail fall upon the next Sunday +week. Whence this announcement came no one knew. But the truth is, +every one was willing it should remain shrouded in the mystery +congenial to such things. On the door of the parish-church, it found an +especially suitable place; for that, not having been painted for many +years, still retained the mourning into which it had been put on +occasion of the death of the great man of the neighbourhood, the owner +of all Glamerton, and miles around it--this mourning consisting of a +ground of dingy black, over which at small regular distances had been +painted a multitude of white spots with tails, rather more like commas +than tadpoles, intended to represent the falling tears of lamenting +tenants and humble servants generally. Curly's grandfather had been the +artist of the occasion. In the middle of this door stood the awful +prophecy, surrounded on every side by the fall of the faded tears; and +for anything anybody knew, it might have been a supernatural exudation +from the damp old church, full of decay for many a dreary winter. +Dreadful places, those churches, hollow and echoing all the week! I +wonder if the souls of idle parsons are condemned to haunt them, and +that is what gives them that musty odour and that exhausting air. + +Glamerton was variously affected by this condensation of the vapour of +prophecy into a definite prediction. + +"What think ye o' 't, Thomas Crann?" said Andrew Constable. "The +calcleation seems to be a' correck. Yet somehoo I canna believe in't." + +"Dinna fash yer heid aboot it, Anerew. There's a heep o' judgments +atween this an' the hinner en'. The Lord'll come whan naebody's luikin' +for him. And sae we maun be aye ready. Ilka year's an anno dominy. But +I dinna think the man that made that calcleation as ye ca' 't 's jist +a'thegeether infallible. An' for ae thing, he's forgotten to mak' +allooance for the laip years." + +"The day's by, than!" exclaimed Andrew, in a tone contrasting pretty +strongly with his previous expressions of unbelief. + +"Or else it's nae comin' sae sune as the prophet thocht. I'm no clear +at this moment aboot that. But it's a sma' maitter that." + +Andrew's face fell, and he looked thoughtful. + +"Hoo mak' ye that oot?" said he. + +"Hoots man!" answered Thomas; "dinna ye see 'at gin the man was +cawpable o' makin' sic a mistak's that, i' the mids o' his perfec +confidence in his ain knowledge an' jeedgment, he cud hardly hae been +intendit by Providence for an interpreter o' dark sayings of old?" + +Andrew burst into a laugh. + +"Wha cud hae thocht, Thomas, 'at ye cud hae pickit sic gumption oot o' +stanes!" + +And so they parted, Andrew laughing, and Thomas with a curious smile. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXI. + + +Towards the middle of the following week the sky grew gloomy, and a +thick small incessant rain brought the dreariest weather in the world. +There was no wind, and miles of mist were gathered in the air. After a +day or two the heavens grew lighter, but the rain fell as steadily as +before, and in heavier drops. Still there was little rise in either the +Glamour or the Wan Water, and the weather could not be said to be +anything but seasonable. + +On the Saturday afternoon, weary of some poor attempts at Greek and +Latin, weary of the wretched rain, and weary with wishing to be with +Kate, Alec could stay in the house no longer, and went out for a walk. +Along the bank of the river he wandered, through the rain above and the +wet grass below, to the high road, stood for a moment on the bridge +gazing at the muddy Glamour, which came down bank-full,--Annie saw him +from Tibbie's window as he stood,--and then turned and followed its +course below the bridge through a wild, and now dismal country, to +where the waters met. It was getting dusk when he reached the place. +With what a roar the Wan Water came down its rocks, rushing from its +steeper course into the slow incline of the Glamour! A terrible country +they came from--those two ocean-bound rivers--up among the hill-tops. +There on the desolate peat-mosses, spongy, black, and cold, the rain +was pouring into the awful holes whence generations had dug their fuel, +and into the natural chasms of the earth, soaking the soil, and sending +torrents, like the flaxen hair of a Titanic Naiad, rolling into the +bosom of the rising river-god below. The mist hung there, darkening +everything with its whiteness, ever sinking in slow fall upon the +slippery peat and the heather and the gray old stones. By and by the +pools would be filled, and the hidden caves; their sides would give +way; the waters would rush from the one into the other, and from all +down the hill-sides, and the earth-sponge would be drained off. + +"Gin this hauds, we'll hae a spate," said Alec to himself, when he saw +how the waters met, flooding the _invers_, and beginning to invade the +trees upon the steep banks below. The scene was in harmony with his +feelings. The delight of the sweeping waters entered his soul, and +filled him with joy and strength. As he took his way back through the +stunted trees, each swathed in its own mist, and dripping as if it were +a separate rain-cloud; and through the bushes that wetted him like +pools; and through the streams that poured down the steep bank into the +Glamour; he thought how different it was when he walked there with +Kate, when the sun was bright, and the trees were covered with green, +and the heather was in patches of blossom, and the river went +clear-hearted and singing over its stony channel below. But he would +rather have it thus, now that Kate was gone. + +The floods then were slower in rising, and rose to a much greater +height than now. In the present day, the numerous drains provide a +rapid and steady escape, so that there is no accumulation of waters, +and no bursting of the walls of natural or accidental reservoirs. And I +presume that from slow changes produced in the climate by cultivation, +there may be a less fall of water now than there used to be; for in +some parts of that country the rivers have, within the memory of +middle-aged men, considerably decreased in volume. + +That evening, in the schoolmaster's lodgings. Truffey sat at the +tea-table triumphant. The master had been so pleased with an exercise +which he had written for him--written in verse too--that he had taken +the boy home to tea with him, dried him well at his fire, and given him +as much buttered toast as he could eat. Truffey had often had a like +privilege, but never for an ovation, as now. How he loved the master! + +"Truffey," said Mr Malison, after a long pause, during which he had +been staring into the fire, "how's your leg?" + +"Quite weel, thank ye, sir," answered Truffey, unconsciously putting +out the foot of the wrong leg on the fender. "There wasna onything the +maitter wi' 't." + +"I mean the other leg, Truffey--the one that I--that I--hurt." + +"Perfectly weel, sir. It's no worth speirin' efter. I wonner that ye +tak sic pains wi' me, sir, whan I was sic a nickum." + +The master could not reply. But he was more grateful for Truffey's +generous forgiveness than he would have been for the richest living in +Scotland. Such forgiveness is just giving us back ourselves--clean and +happy. And for what gift can we be more grateful? He vowed over again +to do all he could for Truffey. Perhaps a sticket minister might have a +hand in making a minister that would not stick. + +Then the master read Truffey's queer composition aloud, and +notwithstanding all his conscientious criticism, Truffey was delighted +with his own work when removed to an objective distance by the master's +reading. At length Mr Malison said: + +"It's time to go home, Andrew Truffey. Put on my cloak--there. And keep +out of the puddles as much as you can." + +"I'll pit the sma' fit in," said Truffey, holding up the end of his +crutch, as he stretched it forward to make one bound out of the door. +For he delighted in showing off his agility to the master. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXII. + + +When Alec looked out of his window the next morning, he saw a broad +yellow expanse below. The Glamour was rolling, a mighty river, through +the land. A wild waste foamy water, looking cold and torn and troubled, +it swept along the fields where late the corn had bowed to the autumn +winds. But he had often seen it as high. And all the corn was safe in +the yard. + +Neither he nor his mother regretted much that they could not go to +church. Mrs Forbes sat by the fire and read Hannah More's _Christian +Morals_, and Alec sat by the window reading James Montgomery's _World +before the Flood_, and watching the river, and the splashing of the +rain in the pluvial lake, for the water was nearly a foot deep around +the house, although it stood upon a knoll of gravel. + +All night Tibbie Dyster had lain awake in her lonely cottage, listening +to the quiet heavy _go_ of the water from which all the sweet babbling +sounds and delicate music-tones had departed. The articulation of the +river-god was choked in the weight and hurry of its course to the +expectant sea. Tibbie was still far from well, had had many relapses, +and was more than ever convinced that the Lord was going to let her see +his face. + +Annie would have staid with her that Saturday night, as she not +unfrequently did, had she not known that Mrs Bruce would make it a +pretext for giving her no change of linen for another week. + +The moment Bruce entered the chapel--for no weather deprived him of his +Sabbath privileges--Annie, who had been his companion so far, darted +off to see Tibbie. When Bruce found that she had not followed him, he +hurried to the door, but only to see her halfway down the street. He +returned in anger to his pew, which he was ashamed of showing thus +empty to the eyes of his brethren. But there were many pews in like +condition that morning. + +The rain having moderated a little in the afternoon, the chapel was +crowded in the evening. Mrs Bruce was the only one of the Bruce-family +absent. The faces of the congregation wore an expectant look, for they +knew Mr Turnbull would _improve the occasion_: he always sought +collateral aid to the influences of the truth, and sometimes attempted +to suborn Nature herself to give effect to his persuasions. The text he +had chosen was: "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming +of the Son of Man be." He made no allusion to the paper which the rain +was busy washing off the door of the chapel; nor did he wish to remind +the people that this was the very day foreseen by the bill-sticking +prophet, as appointed for the advent of judgment. But when, in the +middle of the sermon, a flash of lightning seemed to extinguish the +array of candles, and was followed by an instant explosion of thunder, +and a burst of rain, as if a waterspout had broken over their heads, +coming down on the roof like the trampling of horses and the noise of +chariot-wheels, the general start and pallor of the congregation showed +that they had not forgotten the prediction. This then was the way in +which judgment was going to be executed: a second flood was about to +sweep them from the earth. So, although all stared at the minister as +if they drank in every word of his representation of Noah's flood, with +its despairing cries, floating carcases, and lingering deaths on the +mountain-tops as the water crept slowly up from peak to peak, yet they +were much too frightened at the little flood in the valley of two +rivers, to care for the terrors of the great deluge of the world, in +which, according to Mr Turnbull, eighty thousand millions of the sons +and daughters of men perished, or to heed the practical application +which he made of his subject. For once the contingent of nature was too +powerful for the ends of the preacher. + +When the service was over, they rushed out of the chapel. + +Robert Bruce was the first to step from the threshold up to the ankles +in water. The rain was falling--not in drops, but in little streams. + +"The Lord preserve 's!" he exclaimed. "It's risen a fit (foot) upo' +Glamerton a'ready. And there's that sugar i' the cellar! Bairns, rin +hame yer lanes. I canna bide for ye." + +And he was starting off at the top of his speed. + +"Hoots! man," cried Thomas Crann, who came behind him, "ye're sae sair +ta'en up wi' the warl, 'at ye hae nae room for ordinar' common sense. +Ye're only stannin' up to the mou's o' yer shune i' the hole 'at ye +unnertook yersel' to fill up wi' the lime 'at was ower efter ye had +turned yer dry stane dyke intil a byre-wa'." + +Robert stepped out of the hole and held his tongue. At that moment, +Annie was slipping past him to run back to Tibbie. He made a pounce +upon her and grabbed her by the shoulder. + +"Nae mair o' this, Annie!" he said. "Come hame for cowmon dacency, and +dinna gang stravaguin' in a nicht like this, naebody kens whaur." + +"A' body kens whaur," returned Annie. "I'm only gaun to sleep wi' +Tibbie Dyster, puir blin' body!" + +"Lat the blin' sleep wi' the blin', an' come ye hame wi' me," said +Robert oracularly, abusing several texts of Scripture in a breath, and +pulling Annie away with him. "Ye'll be drooned afore the mornin' in +some hole or ither, ye fashous rintheroot! And syne wha'll hae the wyte +o' 't?" + +Heartily vexed and disappointed, Annie made no resistance, for she felt +it would be uncomely. And how the rain did pour as they went home! They +were all wet to the skin in a moment except Mr Bruce, who had a big +umbrella, and reasoned with himself that his Sabbath clothes were more +expensive than those of the children. + +The best way certainly was to send the wet ones to bed as soon as they +got home. But how could Annie go to bed when Tibbie was lying awake +listening for her footsteps, and hearing only the sounds of the rising +water? She made up her mind what to do. Instead of going into her room, +she kept listening on the landing for the cessation of footsteps. The +rain poured down on the roof with such a noise, and rushed so fiercely +along the spouts, that she found it difficult to be sure. There was no +use in changing her clothes only to get them wet again, and it was well +for her that the evening was warm. But at length she was satisfied that +her gaolers were at supper, whereupon she stole out of the house as +quietly as a kitten, and was out of sight of it as quickly. Not a +creature was to be seen. The gutters were all choked and the streets +had become river-beds, already torn with the rush of the ephemeral +torrents. But through it all she dashed fearlessly, bounding on to +Tibbie's cottage. + +"Eh, preserve's! sic a nicht, Peter Whaup!" said Peter's wife to Peter +as he sat by the fire with his cutty in his teeth. "It'll be an awfu' +spate." + +"Ay will't," rejoined Peter. "There's mair water nor whusky already. +Jist rax doon the bottle, gudewife. It tak's a hantle to quawlifee sic +weet's this. Tak' a drappy yersel', 'oman, to haud it oot." + +"Ye hae had plenty, Peter. _I_ dinna want nane. Ye're a true smith, +man: ye hae aye a spark i' yer throat." + +"Toots! There never was sic a storm o' water sin' the ark o' the +covenant--" + +"Ye mean Noah's ark, Peter, man." + +"Weel, weel! onything ye like. It's a' the same, ye ken. I was only +jist remarkin' that we haena sic a fa' o' rain ilka day, an' we sud +jist haud the day in min', pay 't respec' like, keep it wi' a tumler, +ye ken--cummummerate it, as they ca' 't. Rax doon the bottle, lass, and +I'll jist gie a luik oot an' see whether the water's likely to come in +ower the door-sill; for gin it ance crosses the thrashol', I doot there +wonno be whusky eneuch i' the hoose, and bein' the Sawbath nicht, we +canna weel win at ony mair." + +Thus entreated, Mistress Whaup got the bottle down. She knew her +husband must have whisky, and, like a wise woman, got him to take as +large a proportion of the immitigable quantity as possible at home. +Peter went to the door to reconnoitre. + +"Guid guide 's!" he cried; "there's a lassie run by like a maukin +(hare), wi' a splash at ilka fit like a wauk-mill. An' I do believe it +was Annie Anderson. Will she be rinnin' for the howdie (midwife) to +Mistress Bruce? The cratur'll be droont. I'll jist rin efter her." + +"An' be droont yersel, Peter Whaup! She's a wise lass, an' can tak care +o' hersel. Lat ye her rin." + +But Peter hesitated. + +"The water's bilin'," cried Mrs Whaup. + +And Peter hesitated no longer. + +Nor indeed could he have overtaken Annie if he had tried. Before +Peter's tumbler was mixed she was standing on the stone across the +dyer's _dam_, looking down into the water which had risen far up the +perpendicular sides of its rocky conduit. Across the stone the water +from the street above was pouring into the Glamour. + +"Tibbie," she said, as she entered the cottage, "I doobt there's gaun +to be a terrible spate." + +"Lot it come," cried Tibbie. "The bit hoosie's fund't upon a rock, and +the rains may fa', and the wins may blaw, and the floods may ca at the +hoosie, but it winna fa', it canna fa', for it's fund't upo' a rock." + +Perhaps Tibbie's mind was wandering a little, for when Annie entered, +she found her face flushed, and her hands moving restlessly. But what +with this assurance of her confidence, and the pleasure of being with +her again, Annie thought no more about the waters of the Glamour. + +"What keepit ye sae lang, lassie?" said Tibbie wearily after a moment's +silence, during which Annie had been redisposing the peats to get some +light from the fire. + +She told her the whole story. + +"And hae ye had nae supper?" + +"Na. But I dinna want ony." + +"Pit aff yer weet claes than, and come to yer bed." + +Annie crept into the bed beside her--not dry even then, for she was +forced to retain her last garment. Tibbie was restless, and kept +moaning, so that neither of them could sleep. And the water kept +sweeping on faster, and rising higher up the rocky mound on which the +cottage stood. The old woman and the young girl lay within and listened +fearless. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXIII. + + +Alec too lay awake and listened to the untiring rain. Weary of the +house, he had made use of the missionar kirk to get out of it, and had +been one of Mr Turnbull's congregation that night. Partly because his +mind was unoccupied by any fear from without, for he only laughed at +the prophecy, something in that sermon touched him deeper than any one +else in the place perhaps, awoke some old feelings of responsibility +that had been slumbering for a long time, and made him reflect upon an +unquestioned article of his creed--the eternal loss and misery and +torture of the soul that did not repent and believe. At the same time, +what repentance and belief really meant--what he had to do first--he +did not know. All he seemed to know was that he was at that moment in +imminent danger of eternal damnation. And he lay thinking about this +while the rain kept pouring upon the roof out of the thick night +overhead, and the Glamour kept sweeping by through the darkness to the +sea. He grew troubled, and when at last he fell asleep, he dreamed +frightfully. + +When he woke, it was a dull morning, full of mist and rain. His dreams +had fled even from his memory, but had left a sense of grievous +discomfort. He rose and looked out of the window. The Glamour spread +out and rushed on like the torrent of a sea forsaking its old bed. Down +its course swept many dark objects, which he was too far off to +distinguish. He dressed himself, and went down to its edge--not its +bank: that lay far within and far beneath its torrent. The water, +outspread where it ought not to be, seemed to separate him from the +opposite country by an impassable gulf of space, a visible +infinitude--a vague marvel of waters. Past him swept trees torn up by +the roots. Down below, where he could not see, stones were rolling +along the channel. On the surface, sheaves and trees went floating by. +Then a cart with a drowned horse between the shafts, heaved past in the +central roll of the water. Next came something he could not understand +at first. It was a great water-wheel. This made him think of the mill, +and he hurried off to see what the miller was doing. + +Truffey went stumping through the rain and the streams to the morning +school. Gladly would he have waited on the bridge, which he had to +cross on his way, to look at the water instead. But the master would be +there, and Truffey would not be absent. When Mr Malison came, Truffey +was standing in the rain waiting for him. Not another boy was there. He +sent him home. And Truffey went back to the bridge over the Glamour, +and there stood watching the awful river. + +Mr Malison sped away westward towards the Wan Water. On his way he +found many groups of the inhabitants going in the same direction. The +bed of the Wan Water was here considerably higher than that of the +Glamour, although by a rapid descent it reached the same level a couple +of miles below the town. But its waters had never, to the knowledge of +any of the inhabitants, risen so high as to surmount the ridge on the +other slope of which the town was built. Consequently they had never +invaded the streets. But now people said the Wan Water would be down +upon them in the course of an hour or two, when Glamerton would be in +the heart of a torrent, for the two rivers would be one. So instead of +going to school, all the boys had gone to look, and the master followed +them. Nor was the fear without foundation; for the stream was still +rising, and a foot more would overtop the ground between it and the +Glamour. + +But while the excited crowd of his townsmen stood in the middle of a +stubble-field, watching the progress of the enemy at their feet, Robert +Bruce was busy in his cellar preparing for its reception. He could not +move his cask of sugar without help, and there was none of that to be +had. Therefore he was now, in his shirt-sleeves, carrying the sugar up +the cellar-stairs in the coal-scuttle, while Mrs Bruce, in a condition +very unfit for such efforts, went toiling behind him with the +_meal-bossie_ filled far beyond the brim. As soon as he had finished +his task, he hurried off to join the watchers of the water. + +James Johnstone's workshop was not far from the Glamour. When he went +into it that morning, he found the treadles under water, and thought he +had better give himself _the play_. + +"I'll jist tak a daun'er (stroll) doon to the brig to see the spate +gang by," he said to himself, and, putting on his grandfather's hat, +went out into the rain. + +As he came near the bridge, he saw cripple Truffey leaning over the +parapet with horror-stricken looks. The next moment he bounded to his +one foot and his crutch, and _spanged_ over the bridge as if he had +been gifted with six legs. + +When James reached the parapet, he could see nothing to account for the +terror and eagerness in Truffey's pale face, nor for his precipitate +flight. But being short-sighted and inquisitive, he set off after +Truffey as fast as the dignity proper to an elderly weaver and a deacon +of the missionars would permit. + +As Alec came near the mill he saw two men standing together on the +verge of the brown torrent which separated them from it. They were the +miller--the same whose millstone Curly had broken by shutting down the +sluice--and Thomas Crann, the latest architect employed about the +building. Thomas had been up all night, wandering hither and thither +along the shore of the Wan Water, sorely troubled about Glamerton and +its careless people. Towards morning he had found himself in the town +again, and, crossing the Glamour, had wandered up the side of the +water, and so come upon the sleepless miller contemplating his mill in +the embrace of the torrent. + +"Ye maun alloo it's _hard_, Thamas," said the miller. + +"_Hard_?" retorted Thomas with indignation. "Hoo daur ye say sic a +thing! Here hae ye been stickin' yer bit water-wheel i' the mids o' ane +o' the Lord's burns, and the Lord has ca'd it roon and roon for you and +yer forbears aboon a hunner yer, and ye've grun' yer breid oot o' 't, +and the breid o' yer bairns, and noo whan it's i' the Lord's gait, and +he maun hae mair room to sen' doon the waters frae his hills, ye +grummle an' compleen at the spate that's been foreordeen't frae the +verra black mirk o' eternity. What wad ye think o' a bairn gaein' +compleenin' o' you 'cause your backwater had ta'en awa' his wheelie o' +rashes, whaur it was whurlin' bonnie afore ye liftit the sluice?" + +Thomas's zeal had exposed him to the discomfiture of those who, if they +do not actually tell lies for God, yet use very bad arguments for him. +The miller rejoined: + +"You or me, Thomas, wad see bairnie an' wheelie alike safe, afore we +liftit the sluice. The Lord _micht_ hae managed ohn ta'en awa' my +mull." + +"Yer mull's nae doon the water yet, Simon. It's in some extremity, I +confess; but whether it's to be life or deith, none kens but ane. Gang +hame, man, and gang doon upo' yer knees, and pray." + +"Pray to God aboot an auld meal-mull?" said Simon with indignation. +"'Deed, I winna be sae ill-bred." + +And so saying, he turned and went home, leaving Thomas muttering-- + +"Gin a body wad pray aboot onything, they micht, maybe, tak' a likin' +till 't. A prayer may do a body guid whan it's no jist o' the kin' to +be a'thegither acceptable to the min' o' the Almichty. But I doobt his +ear's gleg for ony prayer that gangs up his gait." + +The last two sentences were spoken aloud as he shook hands with Alec, +of whose presence he had been aware from the first, although he had +taken no notice of his arrival. + +Before another word was uttered, their attention was attracted by a +large mass floating down the river. + +"What's that, Thomas?" said Alec. "I houp it winna tak' awa' the brig." + +He meant the wooden bridge a few hundred yards below them, which, +inaccessible from either side, was now very little above the level of +the water. + +"It's jist the riggin' o' some cottar's bit hoosie," answered Thomas. +"What's come o' them that was aneath it, the Lord only kens. The +water's jist liftit the roof bodily. There it gangs--throu' aneath the +brig.--The brig's doon. It's no doon.--It's stan'in' yet.--But the puir +fowk, Alec!--Eh, gin they warna preparet! Think o' that, Alec." + +"I houp they wan oot," answered Alec. + +"Houps are feckless things, Alec," returned Thomas, censoriously. + +But the talk was turned into another channel by the appearance--a few +ridges off--for they were standing in a field--of Truffey, who, with +frantic efforts to get on, made but little speed, so deep did his +crutch sink in the soaked earth. He had to pull it out at every step, +and seemed mad in his foiled anxiety to reach them. He tried to shout, +but nothing was heard beyond a crow like that of a hoarse chicken. Alec +started off to meet him, but just as he reached him his crutch broke in +the earth, and he fell and lay unable to speak a word. With slow and +ponderous arrival, Thomas Crann came up. + +"Annie Anderson!" panted out Truffey at length. + +"What aboot _her_?" said both in alarm. + +"Tibbie Dyster!" sobbed Truffey in reply. + +"Here's Jeames Johnstone!" said Thomas; "he'll tell's a' aboot it." + +He surmised the facts, but waited in painful expectation of assurance +from the deacon, who came slipping and sliding along the wet ridges. + +"What's this?" he cried fiercely, as James came within hearing. + +"What is't?" returned the weaver eagerly. + +If Thomas had been a swearing man, what a terrible oath he would have +sworn in the wrath which this response of the weaver roused in his +apprehensive soul! But Truffey was again trying to speak, and with a + +"Be ashamed o' yersel', Jeames Johnstone," the mason bent his ear to +listen. + +"They'll be droont. They'll be taen awa. They canna win oot." + +Thomas and Alec turned and stared at each other. + +"The boat!" gasped Thomas. + +Alec made no reply. That was a terrible water to look at. And the boat +was small. + +"Can ye guide it, Alec?" said Thomas, his voice trembling, and the +muscles of his face working. + +The terrors of the night had returned upon Alec. Would the boat live? +Was there more than a chance? And if she went down, was he not damned +for ever? He made no reply. He was afraid. + +"Alec!" shouted Thomas, in a voice that might have been heard across +the roar of the Glamour, "Will ye lat the women droon?" + +"Thomas," answered Alec, meekly, trembling from head to foot, "gin I +gang to the boddom, I gang to hell." + +"Better be damned, doin' the will o' God, than saved doin' noathing!" +said Thomas. + +The blood shot into Alec's face. He turned and ran. + +"Thomas," said James Johnstone, with shy interposition, laying his +forefinger upon the stonemason's broad chest, "hae ye considered what +ye're drivin' the young man till?" + +"Ay, weel eneuch, Jeames Johnstone. Ye're ane o' thae mealy-mou'd +frien's that like a man sae wel they wad raither hae him gang wi' his +back to the pleuch, nor ca't i' the face o' a cauld win'. I wad raither +see my frein' hangt nor see him deserve hangin'. Haud awa' wi' ye. Gin +he disna gang, I'll gang mysel', an' I never was in a boat i' my life." + +"Come awa, Thomas," cried Alec, already across three or four ridges; "I +canna carry her my lane." + +Thomas followed as fast as he could, but before he reached the barn, he +met Alec and one of the farm-servants, with the boat on their +shoulders. + +It was a short way to the water. They had her afloat in a few minutes, +below the footbridge. At the edge the water was as still as a pond. + +Alec seized the oars, and the men shoved him off. + +"Pray, Alec," shouted Thomas. + +"I haena time. Pray yersel'," shouted Alec in reply, and gave a stroke +that shot him far towards the current. Before he reached it, he shifted +his seat, and sat facing the bows. There was little need for pulling, +nor was there much fear of being overtaken by any floating mass, while +there was great necessity for looking out ahead. The moment Thomas saw +the boat laid hold of by the current, he turned his back to the +Glamour, fell upon his knees in the grass, and cried in an agony: + +"Lord, let not the curse o' the widow and the childless be upo' me, +Thomas Crann." + +Thereafter he was silent. + +Johnstone and the farm-lad ran down the river-side. Truffey had started +for the bridge again, having tied up his crutch with a string. Thomas +remained kneeling, with his arms stretched out as stiff as the poles of +a scaffold, and the joints of his clasped fingers buried in the roots +of the grass. The stone piers of the wooden bridge fell into the water +with a rush, but he never heard it. The bridge floated past him bodily, +but his back was towards it. Like a wretch in sanctuary, he dared not +leave "the footstool of grace," or expose himself to the inroads of the +visible world around him, by opening his eyes. + +Alec did not find it so hard as he had expected to keep his boat from +capsizing. But the rapidity with which the banks swept past him was +frightful. The cottage lay on the other side of the Glamour, lower +down, and all that he had to do for a while, was to keep the bows of +his boat down the stream. When he approached the cottage, he drew a +little out of the centre of the current, which, confined within rising +ground, was here fiercer than anywhere above. But out of the current he +could not go; for the cottage lay between the channel of the river and +the mill-race. Except for its relation, however, to the bridge behind +it, which he saw crowded with anxious spectators, he would not have +known where it ought to be--so much was the aspect of everything +altered. He could see that the water was more than half way up the +door, right at which he had resolved to send his boat. He was doubtful +whether the doorway was wide enough to let it through, but he saw no +other way of doing. He hoped his momentum would be sufficient to force +the door open, or, better still, to carry away the posts, and give him +more room. If he failed no doubt the boat would be in danger, but he +would not make any further resolutions, till action, becoming absolute, +should reveal the nature of its own necessity. As he drew near his +mark, therefore, he resumed the seat of a rower, kept taking good aim +at the door, gave a few vigorous pulls, and unshipping his oars, bent +his head forward from the shock. Bang went the _Bonnie Annie_; away +went door and posts; and the lintel came down on Alec's shoulders. + +But I will now tell how the night had passed with Tibbie and Annie. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXIV. + + +Tibbie's moaning grew gentler and less frequent, and both fell into a +troubled slumber. From this Annie awoke at the sound of Tibbie's voice. +She was talking in her dream. + +"Dinna wauk him," she said; "dinna wauk him; he's fell (Germ. viel) +tired and sleepy. Lat the win' blaw, lads. Do ye think He canna see +whan his een are steekit. Gin the watter meddle wi' you, He'll sune lat +it ken it's i' the wrang. Ye'll see 't cowerin' at 's feet like a +colley-dog. I'll jist dight the weet aff o' my Lord's face.--Weel, wauk +him gin ye will. _I_ wad raither gang to the boddom mysel'." + +A pause followed. It was clear that she was in a dream-boat, with Jesus +in the hinder part asleep upon a pillow. The sounds of the water +outside had stolen through her ears and made a picture in her brain. +Suddenly she cried out: + +"I tellt ye sae! I tellt ye sae! Luik at it! The jaws (waves) gang doon +as gin they war sae mony wholpies!" + +She woke with the cry--weeping. + +"I thocht _I_ had the sicht o' my een," she said sobbing, "and the Lord +was blin' wi' sleep." + +"Do you hear the watter?" said Annie. + +"Wha cares for _that_ watter!" she answered, in a tone of contempt. "Do +ye think He canna manage _hit_!" + +But there was a _jabble_ in the room beside them, and Annie heard it. +The water was yelping at the foot of the bed. + +"The watter's i' the hoose!" cried she, in terror, and proceeded to +rise. + +"Lie still, bairn," said Tibbie, authoritatively. "Gin the watter be i' +the hoose, there's no ootgang. It'll be doon afore the mornin'. Lie +still." + +Annie lay down again, and Tibbie resumed: + +"Gin we be i' the watter, the watter's i' the how o' his han'. Gin we +gang to the boddom, he has only to open's fingers, an' there we are, +lyin' i' the loof o' 's han', dry and warm. Lie still." + +And Annie lay so still, that in a few minutes more she was asleep +again. Tibbie slept too. + +But Annie woke from a terrible dream--that a dead man was pursuing her, +and had laid a cold hand upon her. The dream was gone, but the cold +hand remained. + +"Tibbie!" she cried, "the watter 's i' the bed." + +"What say ye, lassie?" returned Tibbie, waking up. + +"The watter's i' the bed." + +"Weel, lie still. We canna sweyp it oot." + +The water was in the bed. And it was pitch dark. Annie, who lay at the +front, stretched her arm over the side. It sunk to the elbow. In a +moment more the bed beneath her was like a full sponge. She lay in +silent terror, longing for the dawn. + +"I'm terrible cauld," said Tibbie. + +Annie tried to answer her, but the words would not leave her throat. +The water rose. They were lying half-covered with it. Tibbie broke out +singing. Annie had never heard her sing, and it was not very musical. + + "Saviour, through the desert lead us. + Without thee, we cannot go. + +Are ye waukin', lassie?" + +"Ay," answered Annie. + +"I'm terrible cauld, an' the watter's up to my throat. I canna muv, I'm +sae cauld. I didna think watter had been sae cauld." + +"I'll help ye to sit up a bit. Ye'll hae dreidfu' rheumatize efter +this, Tibbie," said Annie, as she got up on her knees, and proceeded to +lift Tibbie's head and shoulders, and draw her up in the bed. + +But the task was beyond her strength. She could not move the helpless +weight, and, in her despair, she let Tibbie's head fall back with a +dull plash upon the bolster. + +Seeing that all she could do was to sit and support her, she got out of +bed and waded across the floor to the fireside to find her clothes. But +they were gone. Chair and all had been floated away, and although she +groped till she found the floating chair, she could not find the +clothes. She returned to the bed, and getting behind Tibbie, lifted her +head on her knees, and so sat. + +An awful dreary time followed. The water crept up and up. Tibbie moaned +a little, and then lay silent for a long time, drawing slow and feeble +breaths. Annie was almost dead with cold. + +Suddenly in the midst of the darkness Tibbie cried out, + +"I see licht! I see licht!" + +A strange sound in her throat followed, after which she was quite +still. Annie's mind began to wander. Something struck her gently on the +arm, and kept bobbing against her. She put out her hand to feel what it +was. It was round and soft. She said to herself: + +"It's only somebody's heid that the water's torn aff," and put her hand +under Tibbie again. + +In the morning she found it was a drowned hen. + +At length she saw motion rather than light. The first of the awful dawn +was on the yellow flood that filled the floor. There it lay throbbing +and swirling. The light grew. She strained her eyes to see Tibbie's +face. At last she saw that the water was over her mouth, and that her +face was like the face of her father in his coffin. Child as she was, +she knew that Tibbie was dead. She tried notwithstanding to lift her +head out of the water, but she could not. So she crept from under her, +with painful effort, and stood up in the bed. The water almost reached +her knees. The table was floating near the bed. She got hold of it, and +scrambling on to it, sat with her legs in the water. For another long +space, half dead and half asleep, she went floating about, dreaming +that she was having a row in the _Bonnie Annie_ with Alec and Curly. In +the motions of the water, she had passed close to the window looking +down the river, and Truffey had seen her. + +Wide awake she started from her stupor at the terrible bang with which +the door burst open. She thought the cottage was falling, and that her +hour was come to follow Tibbie down the dark water. + +But in shot the sharp prow of the _Bonnie Annie_, and in glided after +it the stooping form of Alec Forbes. She gave one wailing cry, and +forgot everything. + +That cry however had not ceased before she was in Alec's arms. In +another moment, wrapt in his coat and waistcoat, she was lying in the +bottom of the boat. + +Alec was now as cool as any hero should be, for he was doing his duty, +and had told the devil to wait a bit with his damnation. He looked all +about for Tibbie, and at length spied her drowned in her bed. + +"So much the more chance for Annie and me!" he said. "But I wish I had +been in time." + +What was to be done next? Down the river he must go, and they would be +upon the bridge in two moments after leaving the cottage.--He must +shoot the middle arch, for that was the highest. But if he escaped +being dashed against the bridge before he reached the arch, and even +had time to get in a straight line for it, the risk was a terrible one, +with the water within a few feet of the keystone. + +But when he shot the _Bonnie Annie_ again through the door of the +cottage, neither arch nor bridge was to be seen, and the boat went down +the open river like an arrow. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXV. + + +Alec, looking down the river on his way to the cottage, had not seen +the wooden bridge floating after him. As he turned to row into the +cottage, it went past him. + +The stone bridge was full of spectators, eagerly watching the boat, for +Truffey had spread the rumour of the attempt; while the report of the +situation of Tibbie and Annie having reached even the Wan Water, those +who had been watching it were now hurrying across to the bridge of the +Glamour. + +The moment Alec disappeared in the cottage, some of the spectators +caught sight of the wooden bridge coming down full tilt upon them. +Already fears for the safety of the stone bridge had been openly +expressed, for the weight of water rushing against it was tremendous; +and now that they saw this ram coming down the stream, a panic, with +cries and shouts of terror, arose, and a general rush left the bridge +empty just at the moment when the floating mass struck one of the +principal piers. Had the spectators remained upon it, the bridge might +have stood. + +But one of the crowd was too much absorbed in watching the cottage to +heed the sudden commotion around him. This was Truffey, who, leaning +wearily on the parapet with his broken crutch looking over it also at +his side, sent his soul through his eyes to the cottage window. Even +when the bridge struck the pier, and he must have felt the mass on +which he stood tremble, he still kept staring at the cottage. Not till +he felt the bridge begin to sway, I presume, had he a notion of his +danger. Then he sprang up, and made for the street. The half of the +bridge crumbled away behind him, and vanished in the seething yellow +abyss. + +At this moment, the first of the crowd from the Wan Water reached the +bridge-foot. Amongst them came the schoolmaster. Truffey was making +desperate efforts to reach the bank. His mended crutch had given way, +and he was hopping wildly along. Murdoch Malison saw him, and rushed +upon the falling bridge. He reached the cripple, caught him up in his +strong arms, turned and was half way to the street, when with a swing +and a sweep and a great plash, the remaining half of the bridge reeled +into the current and vanished. Murdoch Malison and Andrew Truffey left +the world each in the other's arms. + +Their bodies were never found. + +A moment after the fall of the bridge, Robert Bruce, gazing with the +rest at the triumphant torrent, saw the _Bonnie Annie_ go darting past. +Alec was in his shirt-sleeves, facing down the river, with his oars +level and ready to dip. But Bruce did not see Annie in the bottom of +the boat. + +"I wonner hoo auld Marget is," he said to his wife the moment he +reached home. + +But his wife could not tell him. Then he turned to his two younger +children. + +"Bairns," he said, "Annie Anderson's droont. Ay, she's droont," he +continued, as they stared at him with frightened faces. "The Almichty's +taen vengeance upon her for her disobedience, and for brackin' the +Sawbath. See what ye'll come to, bairns, gin ye tak up wi' ill loons, +and dinna min' what's said to ye. _She's_ come to an ill hinner-en'?" + +Mrs Bruce cried a little. Robert would have set out at once to see +Margaret Anderson, but there was no possibility of crossing the Wan +Water. + +Fortunately for Thomas Crann, James Johnstone, who had reached the +bridge just before the alarm arose, sped to the nearest side, which was +that away from Glamerton. So, having seen the boat go past, with Alec +still safe in it, he was able to set off with the good news for Thomas. +After searching for him at the miller's and at Howglen, he found him +where he had left him, still on his knees, with his hands in the grass. + +"Alec's a' safe, man," he cried. + +Thomas fell on his face, and he thought he was dead. But he was only +giving lowlier thanks. + +James took hold of him after a moment's pause. Thomas rose from the +earth, put his great horny hand, as a child might, into that of the +little weaver, and allowed him to lead him whither he would. He was +utterly exhausted, and it was hours before he spoke. + +There was no getting to Glamerton. So James took him to the miller's +for shelter and help, but said nothing about how he had found him. The +miller made Thomas drink a glass of whisky and get into his bed. + +"I saw ye, Thamas, upo' yer knees," said he; "but I dauredna come near +ye. Put in a word for me, neist time, man." + +Thomas made him no reply. + +Down the Glamour and down the Wan-Water, for the united streams went by +the latter name, the terrible current bore them. Nowhere could Alec +find a fit place to land, till they came to a village, fortunately on +the same side as Howglen, into the street of which the water flowed. He +bent to his oars, got out of the current, and rowed up to the door of a +public-house, whose fat kind-hearted landlady had certainly expected no +guests that day. In a few minutes Annie was in a hot bath, and before +an hour had passed, was asleep, breathing tranquilly. Alec got his boat +into the coach-house, and hiring a horse from the landlord, rode home +to his mother. She had heard only a confused story, and was getting +terribly anxious about him, when he made his appearance. As soon as she +learned that he had rescued Annie, and where he had left her, she had +Dobbin put to the gig, and drove off to see after her neglected +favourite. + +From the moment the bridge fell, the flood began to subside. Tibbie's +cottage did not fall, and those who entered, the next day, found her +body lying in the wet bed, its face still shining with the reflex of +the light which broke upon her spirit as the windows were opened for it +to pass. + +"See sees noo," said Thomas Crann to James Johnstone, as they walked +together at her funeral. "The Lord sent that spate to wash the scales +frae her een." + +Mrs Forbes brought Annie home to Howglen as soon as she was fit to be +moved. + +Alec went to town again, starting a week before the commencement of the +session. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXVI. + + +It was on a bright frosty evening in the end of October, that Alec +entered once more the streets of the great city. The stars were +brilliant over-head, the gems in Orion's baldric shining oriently, and +the Plough glittering with frost in the cold blue fields of the +northern sky. Below, the streets shone with their own dim stars; and +men and women wove the web of their life amongst them as they had done +for old centuries, forgetting those who had gone before, and careless +of those who were to come after. + +The moment he had succeeded in satisfying his landlady's inquisition, +he rushed up to Mr Cupples's room. Mr Cupples was out. What was Alec to +do? He could not call on Mr Fraser that night; and all space between +him and Kate growing more immeasurable the nearer he came to her, he +could not rest for the feeling of distance. So he wandered out, and +along the sea-shore till under the wall of the pier. The tide was low, +and the wall high over his head. He followed it to the edge of the +water, and gazed out over the dim lead-coloured sea. While he stood +thus, he thought he heard voices in the air, and looking up, saw, far +over him, on the top of the wall, two heads standing out against the +clear sky, one in a bonnet, the other in a Glengarry. Why should he +feel a pang in his heart? Surely there were many girls who took +starlight walks on that refuge in the sea. And a Glengarry was no +uncommon wear for the youths of the city. He laughed at his own weak +fancies, turned his back on the pier, and walked along the shore +towards the mouth of the other river which flowed into the same bay. As +he went, he glanced back towards the top of the wall, and saw the +outline of the man. He was in full Highland dress. The woman he could +not see, for she was on the further side of her companion. By the time +he was halfway to the college, he had almost forgotten them. + +It was a desolate shore along which he walked. Two miles of sand lay by +the lip of the sea on his right. On his left rose irregular and +changeful mounds of dry sand, upon which grew coarse grass and a few +unpleasant-looking plants. From the level of the tops of these mounds +stretched away a broad expanse of flat uncultivated ground, covered +with thin grass. This space had been devoted, from time immemorial, to +the sports of the city, but at this season, and especially at this +hour, it was void as the Sahara. After sauntering along for half an +hour, now listening to the wind that blew over the sand-hills, and now +watching the spiky sparkle of the wintry stars in the sea, he reached a +point whence he could descry the windows of Mr Fraser's part of the +college. There was no light in Kate's window. She must be in the +dining-room with her uncle--or--or--on the pier--with whom? He flung +himself on the sand. All the old despair of the night of thunder, of +the moonlight ramble, of the last walk together, revived. He dug with +his fingers into the sand; and just so the horrible pain was digging, +like a live creature with claws, into his heart. But Kate was indeed +sitting quietly with her uncle, while he lay there on the sea-shore. + +Time passes quickly in any torment--merciful provision. Suddenly +something cold seemed to grasp him by the feet. He started and rose. +Like a wild beast in the night, the tide had crept up upon him. A +horror seized him, as if the ocean were indeed a slimy monster that +sought to devour him where he lay alone and wretched. He sprang up the +sand before him, and, sliding back at every step, gained the top with +difficulty, and ran across the _links_ towards the city. The exercise +pumped the blood more rapidly through his brain, and before he reached +home hope had begun to dawn. He ascended the garret-stairs, and again +knocked at Mr Cupples's door. + +"Come in," reached his ear in a strange dull tone. Mr Cupples had +shouted into his empty tumbler while just going to swallow the last few +drops without the usual intervention of the wine-glass. Alec hesitated, +but the voice came again with its usual ring, tinged with irritation, +and he entered. + +"Hillo, bantam!" exclaimed Mr Cupples, holding out a grimy hand, that +many a lady might have been pleased to possess and keep clean and +white: "Hoo's the soo? And hoo's a' the cocks and hens?" + +"Brawly," returned Alec. "Hoo's the _tappit hen_?"--a large bottle, +holding six quarts, in which Mr Cupples kept his whisky. + +Mr Cupples opened his eyes wide, and stared at Alec, who saw that he +had made a blunder. + +"I'll hae nae jaw frae you, younker," said he slowly. "Gin ye be sae +ill at ease 'at ye maun tak' leeberties for the sake o' bein' +facetious, ye can jist gang doon the stair wi' a quaiet sough." + +"I beg your pardon, Mr Cupples," said Alec earnestly, for he was vexed +with himself. "But ye're quite richt; I am some ill at ease." + +"I thocht as muckle. Is the rainbow beginnin' to cast (fade) a wee? Has +the fit o' Iris ca'd a hole i' the airch o' 't? Eh, man! man! Tak' to +the mathemawtics and the anawtomy, and fling the conic sections an' the +banes i' the face o' the bonny jaud--Iris, I mean, man, no ither, lass +or leddy." + +For Mr Cupples had feared, from the expression of Alec's face, that he +had given him offence in return. A silence of a few seconds followed, +which Alec gladly broke. + +"Are you still acting as librarian, Mr Cupples?" he said. + +"Ay. I'm actin' _as_ librarian," returned Cupples dryly. "And I'm +thinkin'," he added, "that the buiks are beginnin' to ken by this time +what they're aboot; for sic a throuither disjaskit midden o' lere, I +never saw. Ye micht hae taicklet it wi' a graip" (_a three-pronged +fork_, a sort of agricultural trident). "Are ye gaun to tak' the +cheemistry alang wi' the naiteral philoasophy?" + +"Ay." + +"Weel, ye jist come to me, as ye hae done afore. I'm no sae gude at +thae things as I am at the Greek; but I ken mair already nor ye'll ken +whan ye ken a' 'at ye will ken. And that's nae flattery either to you +or me, man." + +With beating heart, Alec knocked the next day at Mr Fraser's door, and +was shown into the drawing-room, where sat Kate alone. The moment he +saw her, he knew that there was a gulf between them as wide as the +Glamour in a spate. She received him kindly, nor was there anything in +her manner or speech by which he could define an alteration; and yet, +with that marvellous power of self-defence, that instinctive knowledge +of spirituo-military engineering with which maidens are gifted, she had +set up such a palisade between them, dug such a fosse, and raised such +a rampart, that without knowing how the effect was produced, he felt +that he could not approach her. It is strange how women can put out an +invisible arm and push one off to an infinite removal. + +With a miserable sense of cold exhaustion and aching disappointment, he +left her. She shook hands with him warmly, was very sorry her uncle was +out, and asked him whether he would not call again to-morrow, when he +would certainly be at home? He thanked her in a voice that seemed to +him not his own, while her voice appeared to him to come out of some +far-off cave of the past. The cold frosty air received him as he +stepped from the door, and its breath was friendly. If the winter would +only freeze him to one of its icicles, and still that heart of his +which would go on throbbing although there was no reason for it to +throb any more! Yet had he not often found her different from what he +had expected? And might not this be only one of her many changeful +moods? Perhaps. + +So feeling that he had nothing to do and only one thing to think about, +he wandered further through the old burgh, past the lingering fragment +of its once mighty cathedral, and down to the bridge which, with its +one Gothic arch as old as the youth of Chaucer, spanned the channel, +here deep and narrow, of the long-drawn Highland river. Beyond it lay +wintry woods, clear-lined against the pale blue sky. Into these he +wandered, and was going on, seeing nothing, thinking nothing, almost +feeling nothing, when he heard a voice behind him. + +"Hillo, bantam!" it cried; and Alec did not need to turn to know who +called. + +"I saw ye come oot o' Professor Fraser's," said Cupples, "and I thocht +a bit dauner i' the caller air wad do me no ill; sae I jist cam' efter +ye." + +Then changing his tone, he added, + +"Alec, man, haud a grip o' yersel'. Dinna tyne that Lowse onything +afore ye lowse haud o' yersel'." + +"What do you mean, Mr Cupples?" asked Alec, not altogether willing to +understand him. + +"Ye ken weel eneuch what I mean. There's a trouble upo' ye. I'm no +speirin' ony questons. But jist haud a grip o' yersel'. Rainbows! +Rainbows!--We'll jist hae a walk thegither, an' I'll instruck ye i' the +first prenciples o' naiteral philosophy.--First, ye see, there's the +attraction o' graivitation, and syne there's the attraction o' +cohesion, and syne there's the attraction o' adhesion; though I'm +thinkin', i' the lang run, they'll be a' fun' to be ane and the same. +And syne there's the attraction o' affeenity, whilk differs mair nor a +tae's length frae the lave. In hit, ye see, ae thing taks till anither +for a whilie, and hauds gey and sicker till 't, till anither comes 'at +it likes better, whaurupon there's a proceedin' i' the Chancery o' +Natur--only it disna aye haud lang, and there's nae lawyers' fees--and +the tane's straughtways divorced frae the tither." + +And so he went on, giving a kind of humorous travesty of a lecture on +physics, which, Alec could not help perceiving, glanced every now and +then at his mental condition, especially when it came to treat of the +mechanical powers. It was evident that the strange being had some +perception of the real condition of Alec's feelings. After walking a +couple of miles into the open country, they retraced their footsteps. +As they approached the college, Mr Cupples said: + +"Noo, Alec, ye maun gang hame to yer denner. I'll be hame afore nicht. +And gin ye like, ye can come wi' me to the library the morn, and I'll +gie ye something to do." + +Glad of anything to occupy his thoughts, Alec went to the library the +next day; and as Mr Cupples was making a catalogue, and at the same +time a thorough change in the arrangement of the books--both to be +after his own heart--he found plenty for him to do. + +Alec soon found his part in the catalogue-work becoming agreeable. But +although there was much to be done as well in mending old covers, +mounting worn title-pages, and such like, in this department Mr Cupples +would accept no assistance. Indeed if Alec ventured to take up a book +destined for repair, he would dart at him an anxious, almost angry +glance, and keep watching him at uneasy intervals till he had laid it +down again. Books were Mr Cupples's gold and jewels and furniture and +fine clothes, in fact his whole _gloria mundi_. + +But the opening day was at hand, after which Alec would have less time. +Still he resolved, as some small return for the kindness of Mr Cupples, +that he would continue to give him what help he could; for he had +discovered that the pro-librarian lived in continual dread lest the +office should be permanently filled before he had completed his labour +of re-organization. + +During the few days passed in the library, he called once upon Mr +Fraser, and met with a warm reception from him. Kate gave him a kind +one as before; but he had neither the satisfaction nor the pain of +being alone with her. + +At the opening, appeared amongst the rest Patrick Beauchamp--claiming +now the name and dignity of The Mac Chattachan, for his grandfather was +dead, and he was heir to the property. He was, if possible, more +haughty than before; but students are not, as a class, ready to respond +to claims of superiority upon such grounds as he possessed, and, except +by a few who were naturally obsequious, he continued to be called +Beauchamp, and by that name I shall call him too. + +It soon came out that when lecture-hours were over, he put off his +lowland dress, and went everywhere in Highland costume. Indeed on the +first day Alec met him in the gloaming thus attired; and the flash of +his cairngorms as he passed seemed to scorch his eyes, for he thought +of the two on the pier, and the miserable hour that followed. Beauchamp +no longer attended the anatomical lectures; and when Alec observed his +absence, he recalled the fact that Kate could never bear even a distant +reference to that branch of study. Whether he would have gone in for it +with any heartiness himself this session, had it not been for the good +influence of Mr Cupples, is more than doubtful. But he gave him +constant aid, consisting in part of a liberal use of any kind of mental +goad that came to his hand--sometimes praise, sometimes rebuke, +sometimes humorous execration. + +Fortunately for the designs of Beauchamp, Mr Fraser had been visiting +in his mother's neighbourhood; and nothing was easier for one who, like +most Celts, possessed more than the ordinary power of ingratiating, +than to make himself agreeable to the old man. When he took his leave +to return to the college, Mr Fraser declared himself sorry that he had +made no better acquaintance with him before, and begged that he would +call upon him when he came up. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXVII. + + +Soon after the commencement of the session, a panic seized the +townspeople in consequence of certain reports connected with the school +of anatomy, which stood by itself in a low neighbourhood. They were to +the effect that great indignities were practised upon the remains of +the _subjects_, that they were huddled into holes about the place, and +so heedlessly, that dogs might be seen tearing portions from the earth. +What truth there may have been at the root of these reports, I cannot +tell; but it is probable they arose from some culpable carelessness of +the servants. At all events, they were believed in the neighbourhood, +occupied by those inhabitants of the city readiest to receive and dwell +upon anything revolting. But what pushed the indignation beyond the +extreme of popular endurance, was a second rumour, in the consternation +occasioned by which the whole city shared: the _resurrectionists_ were +at their foul work, and the graveyard, the place of repose, was itself +no longer a sanctuary! Whether the authorities of the medical school +had not been guilty of indifference, contenting themselves with asking +no questions about the source whence the means of prosecuting their art +was derived, may be a question. But fear altogether outstripped +investigation, and those even who professed unbelief, took precautions; +whence the lights of the watchers of the dead might be seen twinkling, +far into the morning, in the solemn places around the city churches; +while many a poor creature who would have sold his wife's body for five +pounds, was ready to tear a medical student to pieces on the mere +chance that his scalpel had touched a human form stolen from the sacred +enclosure. + +Now whether Beauchamp, who had watched Alec in the same situation +before, had anything to do with what follows I cannot tell; but his +conduct then lays him open to suspicion now. + +Alec, who found some escape if not relief from painful thought in the +prosecution of his favourite study, was thus occupied one evening, no +very unfrequent occurrence, by candlelight. He had almost reached a +final understanding of the point in pursuit, when he was roused from +his absorption by a yell outside. He had for some time previous heard a +sound of gathering commotion, but had paid no attention to it. He +started up from his stooping posture, and having blown out his candle, +perceived by the lamps outside, that a crowd of faces, pale in the +darkness, was staring through the high iron palisade which surrounded +the school. They had seen his light, and were now watching for his +coming out. He knew that upon the smallest additional excitement the +locked gates and palisade would not keep them off more than half a +minute; so he instantly barred the shutters, and betook himself to the +porter's room. As he crossed the small open corner between the two +doors, he heard the _sough_ of their angry speech swelling and falling +like a wind in the upper regions of the night; but they did not see +him. Fortunately, there was a side door in the railing, seldom used, of +which the key hung in the porter's room. By this door Alec let himself +out, and relocked it. But the moment he turned to go home, he heard an +urchin, who had peeped round a corner, screech to the crowd across the +enclosure: + +"He's oot at the back yett! He's oot at the back yett and awa'!" + +Another yell arose, and the sounds of trampling feet. + +Alec knew that his only chance lay in his heels, and took to them +faithfully. Behind him came the crowd in hot pursuit. The narrow +streets rang with their shouts of execration. Such curses could hardly +be heard elsewhere in Europe. Alec, knowing most of the courts and +passages, doubled on his pursuers in the hope of eluding them. But +discovering that he had his instrument still in his hand, he stopped to +put it down the bars of a grating, for a cut from it would have been +most perilous, as he had been using it a day too soon; and before he +had gained another turning, his pursuers were on his track and had +caught sight of him. But Alec's wind and muscles were both good; and in +five minutes more he was at the back entrance to his own lodging, +having left the mob far behind him. He darted up to Mr Cupples, and as +soon as he found breath enough, told him his adventure, saying with a +laugh, as he concluded, + +"It's a mercy there's as muckle o' me to the fore as can tell the +tale!" + +"Jist tak' ye tent, bantam," returned Mr Cupples, who had suddenly +assumed a listening attitude, with his head on one side, "or ye mayna +tell the neist. Hark!" + +From far below arose the dull sound of many feet on the stone-stairs. +Mr Cupples listened for a moment as if fascinated, then turning quietly +in his chair, put the poker in the fire. Alec rose. + +"Sit down, you fool!" cried Cupples; and Alec obeyed. + +By this time the mob was thundering at the door of the flat below. And +the fact that they knew where Alec lived adds to my suspicion of +Beauchamp. The landlady wisely let them in, and for a few minutes they +were busy searching the rooms. Then the noise of their feet was heard +on the wooden stair leading up to the garret, whereupon Mr Cupples +turned the poker in the fire, and said to Alec, + +"Rin into that hole there, direckly." + +He pointed with the red-hot poker to the door already mentioned as +partly sunk in the slope of the ceiling, and then stuck the poker in +the fire again. Alec pulled the door open, and entering closed it +behind him. The next moment, guided by the light from under it, the +foremost footsteps reached the door, and the same instant Mr Cupples +appeared in it with his glowing weapon in his hand. Faces with flashing +eyes filled the dark garret outside. + +"What do ye want?" asked Mr Cupples. + +"We want a resurrectioner 'at bides i' this hoose--a foul bane-pikin' +doctor," answered a huge, black-faced smith. + +"What do ye want wi' _him_?" + +"What are _ye_ stan'in' jawin' there for? Haud oot o' the gait. Gin he +bena in your box, what's the odds o' oor luikin' in't?" + +"Haud a quaiet sough, my man," answered Cupples, raising the point of +the worn old weapon, the fervency of whose whiteness had already dimmed +to a dull scaly red, "or I s' lat ye ken' at I'm i' my ain hoose. My +certy! but this'll gang throu ye as gin ye war sae mony kegs o' saut +butter!" + +And he gave a flourish with his rapier--the crowd yielding a step +before it--as he asked once more-- + +"What do ye want wi' him?" + +"To ca the sowl oot o' the wame o' the deil's buckie o' him," said a +limping ostler. + +"I s' pang the mou' o' him wi' the hip o' a corp," cried a pale-faced +painter, who seemed himself to belong to the injured fraternity of +corpses. + +A volley of answers too horrible for record, both in themselves and in +the strange devilry of their garnish of oaths, followed. Mr Cupples did +not flinch a step from his post. But, alas! his fiery sword had by this +time darkened into an iron poker, and the might of its enchantment +vanished as the blackness usurped its glow. He was just going to throw +it away, and was stretching out his other hand for his grandfather's +broadsword, which he had put in the corner by the door ready to replace +it, when a long arm, with a fist at the end of it, darted from between +the heads in front of him, hurled him across the room, and laid him +bleeding and senseless on his own hearth. The poker flew from his hand +as he fell. The crowd rushed in after him, upset his table, broke open +the door that protected his precious books, and with one vigorous kick +from the blacksmith's apprentice, sent in the door of Alec's retreat. +But at that moment Alec was contemplating the crowd below from a regal +seat between two red chimney-pots. + +For as soon as he had drawn-to the door of the closet, instead of +finding darkness, he became aware of moonshine, coming through a door +that led out upon the roof. This he managed to open, and found himself +free of the first floor of the habitable earth, the cat-walk of the +world. As steady in foot and brain as any sailor, he scrambled up the +roof, seated himself as I have said, and gave himself up to the +situation. A sort of stubby underwood of chimney-pots grew all about +him out of red and blue ridges. Above him the stars shone dim in the +light of the moon, which cast opal tints all around her on the white +clouds; and beneath him was a terrible dark abyss, full of raging men, +dimly lighted with lamps. Cavernous clefts yawned in all directions, in +the side of which lived men and women and children. What a seething of +human emotions was down there! Would they ever be sublimed out of that +torture-pit into the pure air of the still heaven, in which the moon +rode like the very throne of peace? + +Alec had gone through enough of trouble already to be able to feel some +such passing sympathy for the dwellers in the city below. But the +sounds of search in the closet recalled him to a sense of his position. +If his pursuers looked out at the door, they would see him at once. He +was creeping round to the other side of the chimney to cower in its +shadow, when a sudden bellow from the street apprized him that the +movement had discovered him to the crowd. Presently stones came flying +about the chimneys, and a busy little demon bounded into the house to +tell the ringleaders that he was on the roof. He therefore slid down +the slope away from the street, and passed on to the roof of the next +house, and thence to the third. + +Arriving at a dingy dormer window, he found that it opened with ease, +admitting him into a little room crowded with dusty books and cobwebs. +He knew then that he was in the territorial outskirts of a certain +second-hand bookseller, with whom he had occasional dealings. He closed +the window, and sat down upon a pile of neglected volumes. The moon +shining through the clouded window revealed rows of books all about +him, of which he could not read even the names. But he was in no want +of the interest they might have afforded him. His thoughts turned to +Kate. She always behaved to him so that he felt both hurt and repelled, +and found it impossible to go to her so often as he would. Yet now when +seated in the solitude of this refuge, his thoughts went back to her +tenderly; for to her they always returned like birds to their tree, +from all the regions whither the energetic dispersion of Mr Cupples +might have scattered them for their pickings of intellectual crumbs. +Now, however, it was but as to a leafless wintry tree, instead of a +nest bowered in green leaves. Yet he was surprised to find that he was +not ten times more miserable; the fact being that, as he had no reason +to fear that she preferred any one else, there was plenty of moorland +space left for Hope to grow upon. And Alec's was one of those natures +that sow Hope everywhere. All that such need is room to sow. Take that +away and they are desperate. Alec did not know what advantage Beauchamp +had been taking of the Professor's invitation to visit him. + +After a time the tumult in the street gradually died away, and Alec +thought he might venture to return to Mr Cupples. Clambering back over +the roofs, he entered, and found the inner door of the closet broken +from its hinges. As he moved it aside, a cry of startled fear +discovered that his landlady was in the room. + +"Guid preserve's, Mr Forbes!" she cried; "whaur come ye frae, and what +hae ye been aboot, to raise the haill toon upo' ye? I trust ye hae nae +legs or airms o' a cauld corp aboot ye. The fowk i' the back streets +canna bide that. An' I winna alloo 't i' my hoose. Jist luik at puir Mr +Cupples here." + +Mr Cupples lay on the bed, with his head bound in a bloody bandage. He +had fallen upon the fender, and a bad cut had been the consequence. He +held out his hand to Alec, and said feebly, + +"Bantam, I thocht ye had yer neck thrawn or this time. Hoo, the muckle +deil! did ye win oot o' their grips?" + +"By playin' the cat a wee," answered Alec. + +"It's the first time," remarked Mr Cupples, "I ever kent I had a door +to the lift (sky). But faith! the sowl o' me was nearhan' gaein' out at +this new ane i' my ain riggin. Gin it hadna been for the guidwife here, +'at cam' up, efter the clanjamfrie had taen themsel's aff, an' fand me +lying upo' the hearthstane, I wad hae been deid or noo. Was my heid +aneath the grate, guidwife?" + +"Na, nae freely that, Mr Cupples; but the blude o' 't was. And ye maun +jist haud yer tongue, and lie still. Mr Forbes, ye maun jist come doon +wi' me; for he winna haud's tongue's lang's ye're there. I'll jist mak' +a cup o' tay till him." + +"Tay, guidwife! Deil slocken himsel' wi yer tay! Gie me a sook o' the +tappit hen." + +"'Deed, Mr Cupples, ye s' hae neither sook nor sipple o' that spring." + +"Ye rigwiddie carlin!" grinned the patient. + +"Gin ye dinna haud yer tongue, I'll gang for the doctor." + +"I'll fling him doon the stair.--Here's doctor eneuch!" he added, +looking at Alec. "Gie me half a glaiss, nate." + +"Never a glaiss nor glaiss sall ye hae frae my han', Mr Cupples. It wad +be the deid o' ye. And forbye, thae ill-faured gutter-partans +(kennel-crabs) toomed the pig afore they gaed. And guid faith! it was +the only wise-like thing they did. Fess the twa halves o' 't, Mr +Forbes, an' lat him see 't wi' the een o' misbelief." + +"Gang oot o' my chaumer wi' yer havers," cried Mr Cupples, "and lea' me +wi' Alec Forbes. He winna deave me wi' his clash." + +"'Deed, I'll no lea' twa sic fules thegither. Come doon the stair +direckly, Mr Forbes." + +Alec saw that it was better to obey. He went up on the sly in the +course of the evening, however, but peeping in and seeing that he +slept, came down again. He insisted upon sitting up with him though, to +which, after repeated vows of prudence and caution, their landlady +consented. + +He was restless and feverish during the night. Alec gave him some +water. He drank it eagerly. A flash of his humour broke through the +cloud of his suffering as he returned the tumbler. + +"Eh, man! that's gran' tipple," he said. "Hoo do ye ca' 't?" + +In the morning he was better; but quite unable to rise. The poor fellow +had very little blood for ordinary organic purposes, and the loss of +any was a serious matter to him. + +"I canna lift my heid, Alec," he said. "Gin that thrawn wife wad hae +but gien me a drappy o' whusky, I wad hae been a' richt." + +"Jist lie ye still, Mr Cupples," said Alec. "I winna gang to the class +the day. I'll bide wi' you." + +"Ye'll do nae sic thing. What's to come o' the buiks forbye, wantin' +you or me to luik efter them? An' the senawtus'll be sayin' that I got +my heid clured wi' fa'in' agen the curbstane." + +"I'll tell them a' aboot it, ane efter anither o' them." + +"Ay; jist do sae. Tell them a' aboot it. It wad brak my hert to pairt +wi' the buiks afore I got them pitten in dacent order. Faith! I wadna +lie still i' my coffin. I wad be thrawin' and turnin', and curfufflin' +a' my win'in' sheet, sae that I wadna be respectable whan I bude to get +up again. Sae ye maunna lat them think that I'm ower drucken for the +buiks to keep company wi', ye ken." + +Alec promised to do all he could to keep such a false conclusion from +entering the minds of the senatus, and, satisfied that he would best +serve the interests of Mr Cupples by doing so at once, set off for +college, to call on the professors before lectures. + +The moment he was out of the room, Mr Cupples got out of bed, and +crawled to the cupboard. To his mortification, however, he found that +what his landlady had said was in the main true; for the rascals had +not left a spoonful either in the bottle which he used as a decanter, +or in the store-bottle called the _tappit (crested) hen_ by way of +pre-eminence. He drained the few drops which had gathered from the +sides of the latter, for it was not in two halves as she had +represented, and crawled back to bed. A fresh access of fever was the +consequence of the exertion. It was many days before he was able to +rise. + +After the morning-classes were over, Alec went to tell Mr Fraser, the +only professor whom he had not already seen, about his adventure, and +the consequences of the librarian's generous interference. + +"I was uneasy about you, Mr Forbes," said the professor, "for I heard +from your friend Beauchamp that you had got into a row with the +blackguards, but he did not know how you had come off." + +His friend Beauchamp! How did he know about it? And when could he have +told Mr Fraser?--But Kate entered, and Alec forgot Beauchamp. She +hesitated, but advanced and held out her hand. Alec took it, but felt +it tremble in his with a backward motion as of reluctance, and he knew +that another thickness of the parting veil had fallen between her and +him. + +"Will you stay and take tea with us?" asked the professor. "You never +come to see us now." + +Alec stammered out an unintelligible excuse. + +"Your friend Beauchamp will be here," continued Mr Fraser. + +"I fear Mr Beauchamp is no friend of mine," said Alec. + +"Why do you think that? He speaks very kindly of you--always." + +Alec made no reply. Ugly things were vaguely showing themselves through +a fog. + +Kate left the room. + +"You had better stay," said the old man kindly. + +"I was up all night with Mr Cupples," answered Alec, longing to be +alone that he might think things out, "and I am anxious about him. I +should be quite uneasy if I did stay--thank you, Mr Fraser." + +"Ah! well; your excuse is a good one," answered the old man. And they +parted. + +Alec went home with such a raging jealousy in his heart, that he almost +forgot Mr Cupples, and scarcely cared how he might find him. For this +was the first time he had heard of any acquaintance between the +professor and Beauchamp. And why should Kate hesitate to shake hands +with him? He recalled how her hand had trembled and fluttered on his +arm when he spoke of the red stain on the water; and how she had +declined to shake hands with him when he told her that he had come from +the dissecting-room. And the conviction seized him that Beauchamp had +been working on her morbid sensitiveness to his disadvantage--taking +his revenge on him, by making the girl whom he worshipped shrink from +him with irrepressible loathing. + +And in the lulls of his rage and jealousy, he had some glimpses into +Kate's character. Not that he was capable of thinking about it; but +flashes of reality came once and again across the vapours of passion. +He saw too that her nerves came, as it were, nearer the surface than +those of other people, and that thence she was exposed to those sudden +changes of feeling which had so often bewildered him. And now that +delicate creature was in the hands of Beauchamp--a selfish and +vulgar-minded fellow! That he whom he had heard insult a dead woman, +and whom he had chastised for it, should dare to touch Kate! His very +touch was defilement. But what could he do? Alas! he could only hate. +And what was that, if Kate should love! But she could not love him +already. He would tell her what kind of a person he was. But she would +not believe him, and would set it down to jealousy. And it would be +mean to tell her. Was Kate then to be left to such a fate without a +word of warning? He _would_ tell her, and let her despise him.--And so +the storm raged all the way home. His only comfort lay in saying over +and over again that Kate could not be in love with him yet. + +But if he had seen Kate, that same evening, looking up into Beauchamp's +face with a beauty in her own such as he had never beheld there, a +beauty more than her face could hold, and overflowing in light from her +eyes, he would have found this poor reed of comfort break in his hand +and pierce his heart. Nor could all his hatred have blinded him to the +fact that Beauchamp looked splendid--his pale face, with its fine, +regular, clear-cut features, reflecting the glow of hers, and his +Highland dress setting off to full advantage his breadth of shoulders +and commanding height. Kate had at last found one to whom she could +look up, in whom she could trust! + +He had taken her by storm, and yet not without well-laid schemes. For +instance, having discovered her admiration of Byron, instead of setting +himself, like Alec, to make himself acquainted with that poet, by which +he could have gained no advantage over her, he made himself her pupil, +and listened to everything she had to say about Byron as to a new +revelation. But, at the same time, he began to study Shelley; and, in a +few days, was able to introduce, with sufficient application, one or +two passages gathered from his pages. Now, to a mind like that of Kate, +with a strong leaning to the fantastic and strange, there was that in +Shelley which quite overcrowed Byron. She listened with breathless +wonder and the feeling that now at last she had found a poet just to +her mind, who could raise visions of a wilder beauty than had ever +crossed the horizon of her imagination. And the fountain whence she +drank the charmed water of this delight was the lips of that grand +youth, all nobleness and devotion. And how wide his reading must be, +seeing he knew a writer so well, of whom she had scarcely heard! + +Shelley enabled Beauchamp to make the same discovery, with regard to +Kate's peculiar constitution, on the verge of which Alec had lingered +so long. For upon one occasion, when he quoted a few lines from the +Sensitive Plant--if ever there was a Sensitive Plant in the human +garden, it was Kate--she turned "white with the whiteness of what is +dead," shuddered, and breathed as if in the sensible presence of +something disgusting. And the cunning Celt perceived in this emotion +not merely an indication of what he must avoid, but a means as well of +injuring him whose rival he had become for the sake of injury. Both to +uncle and niece he had always spoken of Alec in familiar and friendly +manner; and now, he would occasionally drop a word or two with +reference to him and break off with a laugh. + +"What _do_ you mean, Mr Beauchamp?" said Kate on one of these +occasions. + +"I was only thinking how Forbes would enjoy some lines I found in +Shelley yesterday." + +"What are they?" + +"Ah, I must not repeat them to you. You would turn pale again, and it +would kill me to see your white face." + +Whereupon Kate pressed the question no further, and an additional +feeling of discomfort associated itself with the name of Alec Forbes. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXVIII. + + +I have said that Mrs Forbes brought Annie home with her. For several +months she lay in her own little room at Howglen. Mrs Forbes was +dreadfully anxious about her, often fearing much that her son's heroism +had only prolonged the process--that she was dying notwithstanding from +the effects of that awful night. At length on a morning in February, +the first wave of the feebly returning flow of the life-tide visited +her heart, and she opened her eyes, seekingly. Through her little +window, at which in summer she knew that the honeysuckle leaned in as +if peeping and hearkening, she saw the country wrapt in a winding-sheet +of snow, through which patches of bright green had begun to dawn, just +as her life had begun to show its returning bloom above the wan waves +of death.--Sickness is just a fight between life and death.--A thrill +of gladness, too pleasant to be borne without tears, made her close her +eyes. They throbbed and ached beneath their lids, and the hot tears ran +down her cheeks. It was not gladness for this reason or for that, but +the essential gladness of being that made her weep: there lay the +world, white and green; and here lay she, faint and alive. And nothing +was wanting to the gladness and kindness of Mrs Forbes but the +indescribable aroma of motherhood, which she was not divine-woman +enough to generate, save towards the offspring of her own body; and +that Annie did not miss much, because all knowledge she had of such +"heavenly health" was associated with the memory of her father. + +As the spring advanced, her strength increased, till she became able to +move about the house again. Nothing was said of her return to the +Bruces, who were not more desirous of having her than Mrs Forbes was of +parting with her. But if there had ever been any danger of Alec's +falling in love with Annie, there was much more now. For as her health +returned, it became evident that a change had passed upon her. She had +always been a womanly child; now she was a childlike woman. Her eyes +had grown deeper, and the outlines of her form more graceful; and a +flush as of sunrise dawned oftener over the white roses of her cheeks. +She had ripened under the snow of her sickness. She had not grown much, +and was rather under than over the ordinary height; but her shape +produced the impression of tallness, and suggested no probability of +further growth. When first Thomas Crann saw her after her illness, he +held her at arm's length, and gazed at her. + +"Eh, lassie!" he said, "ye're grown a wumman! Ye'll hae the bigger hert +to love the Lord wi'. I thocht he wad hae ta'en ye awa' a bairn, afore +ever we had seen what ye wad turn oot; and sair wad I hae missed ye, +bairn! And a' the sairer that I hae lost auld Tibbie. A man canna do +weel withoot some woman or ither to tell him the trowth. I wiss sair +that I hadna been sae cankert wi' her, whiles." + +"I never heard her say that ye was ever cankert, Thomas." + +"No, I daursay no. She wadna say't. She wadna say't. She was a +kin'-herted auld body." + +"But she didna like to be ca'd auld," interposed Annie, with a smile +half in sad reminiscence of her friend's peculiarities, half in gentle +humour, seeking to turn the conversation, and so divert Thomas from +further self-accusation. + +"Aweel, she's nae that auld noo!" he answered with a responsive smile. +"Eh, lassie! it maun be a fine thing to hae the wisdom o' age alang wi' +the licht hert and the strang banes o' yowth. I'm growin' some auld +mysel. I was ance prood o' that airm"--and it was a brawny right arm he +stretched out�-"and there was no man within ten mile o' Glamerton 'at +cud lift what I cud lift whan I was five-and-twenty. I daursay that +luiks gey auld to you, no?--But ony lad i' the mason-trade micht ding +me at liftin' noo; for I'm stiff i' the back, and my airm's jist +reid-het whiles wi' the rheumateeze; and gin I lift onything by +ordinar', it gars me host like a cat wi' the backbane o' a herrin' in +her thrapple.--Ye'll be gaun back to Robert Bruce or lang, I'm +thinkin'." + +"I dinna ken. The mistress has said naething aboot it yet. And I'm in +nae hurry, I can tell ye, Thomas." + +"Weel, I daursay no. Ye maun tak a heap o' care, lass, that the plenty +and content ye're livin' in doesna spring up and choke the word." + +"Ay, Thomas," answered Annie with a smile; "it's a fine thing to hae +reamy milk to yer parritch, in place o' sky-blue to meal and water." + +What could ail the lassie? She had never spoken lightly about anything +before. Was she too, like his old friend Alec, forgetting the splendour +of her high calling? + +Such was the thought that passed through Thomas's mind; but the truth +was that, under the genial influences of home tenderness and early +womanhood, a little spring of gentle humour had begun to flow softly +through the quiet fields of her childlike nature. + +The mason gazed at her doubtfully, and was troubled. Annie saw his +discomposure, and taking his great hand in her two little ones, looked +full into his cold grey eyes, and said, still smiling, + +"Eh, Thomas! wadna ye hae a body mak' a grainy fun whiles whan it comes +o' itsel' like?" + +But Thomas, anxious about the state of mind that produced the change, +did not show himself satisfied. + +"We dinna hear 'at the Saviour himsel' ever sae muckle as smiled," said +he. + +"Weel, that wad hae been little wonner, wi' what he had upo' 'm. But +I'm nae sure that he didna, for a' that. Fowk disna aye tell whan a +body lauchs. I'm thinkin' gin ane o' the bairnies that he took upo' 's +knee,--an' he was ill-pleased wi' them 'at wad hae sheued them +awa',--gin ane o' them had hauden up his wee timmer horsie, wi' a +broken leg, and had prayed him to work a miracle an' men' the leg, he +wadna hae wrocht a miracle maybe, I daursay, but he wad hae smilet, or +maybe lauchen a wee, and he wad hae men't the leg some gait or ither to +please the bairnie. And gin 't had been me, I wad raither hae had the +men'in' o' 's ain twa han's, wi' a knife to help them maybe, nor twenty +miracles upo' 't." + +Thomas gazed at her for a moment in silence. Then with a slow shake of +the head, and a full-blown smile on his rugged face, he said: + +"Ye're a curious cratur', Annie. I dinna richtly ken what to mak' o' ye +whiles. Ye're like a suckin' bairn and a gran'mither baith in ane. But +I'm thinkin', atween the twa, ye're maistly i' the right. And ye hae +set me richt afore noo.--Sae ye're nae gaun hame to the Bruces again?" + +"I didna say that," answered Annie; "I only said I had h'ard naething +aboot it yet." + +"What for dinna ye jine the kirk, noo?" said Thomas abruptly, after +having tried in vain to find a gradual introduction to the question. +"Dinna ye think it's a deowty to keep in min' what the great Shepherd +did for his ain chosen flock?" + +"Nae doot o' that, Thomas. But I never thocht o' sic a thing. I dinna +even ken 'at I am ane o' the elec'." + +"Ye dinna ken yet?" + +"No," answered Annie, sorrowfully. + +"I wonner at that," returned Thomas. + +"And, forby," resumed Annie, "gin I war, I'm no guid eneuch yet. An' +besides that--" + +But here she stopped and remained silent. + +"What was ye gaun to say?" asked Thomas, encouragingly. + +But Annie did not reply. She looked perplexed. With the intuition of +sympathy springing from like thoughts, Thomas guessed what was moving +in her mind. + +"I ken what ye're thinkin', lassie," he said. "Ye canna help thinkin' +that there's some in oor mids wha may as weel be nameless, for that +they are no credit to us, neyther wad be to ony body o' whuch they war +jined members. Isna that yer trouble, bairn?" + +"'Deed is't, in pairt, Thomas. But it's mair the state o' my ain +feelin's wi' regaird to ane in particular, nor the fac' that he's a +member o' the kirk. Gin I cud be sure that Mr Bruce wad aye be at the +ither en' o' the seat, I micht think o' 't. It's no that I wadna lat +him tak it. I daurna meddle wi' that. But gin I had to tak' it frae his +han', I jist cudna regaird it as the sacred thing that it bude to be +considered." + +Thomas remained silent, with downcast thoughtful look. + +It may be necessary to state, in explanation of Annie's feelings, that +the Scotch, at the celebration of the Eucharist, sit in long rows, and +pass the bread, each breaking off a portion for himself, and the wine, +from the one to the other. + +The compressed lips and motionless countenance of Thomas showed that he +was thinking more than he was prepared to clothe in words. After +standing thus for a few moments, he lifted his head, and returning no +answer to Annie's exposition of her feelings, bade her _good-bye_, and +walked away. + +The drift of Thomas's reflections I shall now help my reader to see. + +Their appetite for prophecy having assuaged with the assuaging flood, +the people of Glamerton had no capacity for excitement left. The +consequence was that the congregations, especially the evening +congregations, began at once to diminish. Having once ceased to feel +anxiety about some vague impending vengeance, comparatively few chose +to be rated any longer about their sins; while some seeing how in the +_spate_ the righteous were taken and the wicked left, felt themselves +aggrieved, and staid at home on the Sunday nights. Nor was the +deterioration confined to the congregations. Not only had the novelty +of Mr Turnbull's style worn off, but he felt himself that he could not +preach with the same fervour as before; the fact being that he had +exhausted the electric region of the spiritual brain, and without +repose it could never fulminate again. A second and worse consequence +was that, in his dissatisfaction with himself, he attempted to _get up_ +his former excitement by preaching as if he were still under its +influences. Upon this his conscience sternly accused him of hypocrisy +and pretence, which reacted in paralysis; and the whole business became +wretched. Even his greatest admirers were compelled to acknowledge that +Mr Turnbull had lost much of his unction, and that except the Spirit +were poured down upon them from on high, their prospects were very +disheartening. For even the best men in _the Church_, as, following +apostolic example without regard to circumstance, they called each +separate community of the initiate, were worldly enough to judge of the +degree of heavenly favour shown them, not by the love they bore to the +truth and to each other, not by the purity of their collective acts and +the prevalence of a high standard of morality in the individual--poor +as even these divine favours would have been as a measure of the divine +favour--but, in a great degree, by the success which attended the +preaching of their pastor, in adding to their esoteric communion, and, +still worse, by the numbers which repaired to their court of the +Gentiles--their exoteric congregation. Nor, it must be confessed, was +even Thomas Crann, in many things so wise and good, and in all things +so aspiring, an exception. Pondering over the signs of disfavour and +decay, he arrived at the conclusion that there must be an Achan in the +camp. And indeed if there were an Achan, he had known well enough, for +a long time, who would turn out to represent that typical person. Of +course, it could be no other than the money-loving, the +mammon-worshipping Robert Bruce. When, therefore, he found that such a +pearl of price as Annie Anderson was excluded from their "little heaven +below," by the presence of this possible anti-typical Achan, he could +not help feeling his original conviction abundantly strengthened. But +he did not see what could be done. + +Meantime, on the loving, long-remembering Annie dawned a great +pleasure. James Dow came to see her, and had a long interview with Mrs +Forbes, the result of which she learned after his departure. One of the +farm-servants who had been at Howglen for some years was going to leave +at the next term, and Mrs Forbes had asked Dow whether he knew of one +to take his place. Whereupon he had offered himself, and they had +arranged everything for his taking the position of grieve or foreman, +which post he had occupied with James Anderson, and was at present +occupying some ten or twelve miles up the hill-country. Few things +could have pleased Mrs Forbes more; for James Dow was recognized +throughout the country as the very pattern of what a foreman ought to +be; his character for saving his employers all possible expense, having +more than its just proportion in generating this reputation; for this +is a capacity which, in a poor country where it is next to impossible +to be enterprising, will naturally receive at least its full share of +commendation. Of late, Mrs Forbes had found it more difficult to meet +her current expenses; for Alec's requirements at college were heavier +this year than they had been before; so that, much to her annoyance, +she had been compelled to delay the last half-yearly payment of Bruce's +interest. Nor could she easily bear to recall the expression upon his +keen ferret-like face when she informed him that it would be more +convenient to pay the money a month hence. That month had passed, and +another, before she had been able to do so. For although the +home-expenses upon a farm in Scotland are very small, yet in the midst +of plenty, money is often scarce enough. Now, however, she hoped that, +with James Dow's management, things would go better, and she would be +able to hold her mental head a little higher in her own presence. So +she was happy, knowing nothing of the cloud that was gathering over the +far-off university, soon to sweep northward, and envelope Howglen in +its dusky folds. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXIX. + + +A state of something like emotional stupefaction succeeded to the +mental tumult of that evening when first Alec saw that his worst and +wildest forebodings might be even already on the point of realization. +The poor glimmer of hope that remained was only enough to show how +terrible was the darkness around it. It was well for him that gratitude +required of him some ministrations beyond those which he took out of +his landlady's hands the moment he came in from college. His custom was +to carry his books to the sick man's room, and wearily pretend, without +even seeming, to be occupied with them. While thus unemployed he did +not know how anxiously he was watched by the big blue eyes of his +friend, shining like two fallen stars from the cavern of his bed. But, +as I have said, he had more to do for him than merely to supply his few +wants when he came home. For the patient's uneasiness about the books +and the catalogue led him to offer not only to minister to the wants of +the students in the middle of the day, but to spend an hour or two +every evening in carrying on the catalogue. This engagement was a great +relief to the pro-librarian, and he improved more rapidly thenceforth. +Whether Alec's labour was lightened or not by the fact that he had a +chance of seeing Kate pass the windows, I cannot tell, but I think any +kind of emotion lightens labour. And I think the labour lightened his +pain; and I know he was not so absorbed in his unhappiness, though at +times the flashes of a keen agony broke from the dull cloud of his +misery, as to perform the duties he had undertaken in a perfunctory +manner. The catalogue made slow but steady progress. And so did the +librarian. + +"Mr Forbes," said Mr Fraser, looking at him kindly, one morning after +the lecture, "you are a great stranger now. Won't you come and spend +to-morrow evening with us? We are going to have a little party. It is +my birthday, though I'm sure I don't know why an old man like me should +have any birthdays. But it's not my doing. Kate found it out, and she +would have a merry-making. I think myself after a man's forty, he +should go back to thirty-nine, thirty-eight, and so on, indicating his +progress towards none at all. That gives him a good sweep before he +comes to two, one, nought. At which rate I shall be thirteen +to-morrow." + +The old man had rattled on as if he saw the cloud on Alec's face and +would dispel it by kindness. I believe he was uneasy about him. Whether +he divined the real cause of his gloom, or feared that he was getting +into bad ways, I cannot tell. + +He did not succeed, however, in dispelling the cloud; for the thought +at this moment passing through Alec's mind was, that Kate had wanted +the merry-making in order to have Beauchamp there. But with a feeling +like that which makes one irritate a smarting wound, or urge on an +aching tooth, he resolved to go and have his pain in earnest. + +He was the first to arrive. + +Kate was in the drawing-room at the piano, radiant in white--lovelier +than ever. She rose and met him with some embarrassment, which she +tried to cover under more than usual kindness. She had not wished Alec +to be one of the company, knowing it would make him unhappy and her +uncomfortable. + +"Oh Kate!" said Alec, overpowered with her loveliness. + +Kate took it for a reproach, and making no reply, withdrew her hand and +turned away. Alec saw as she turned that all the light had gone out of +her face. But that instant Beauchamp entered, and as she turned once +more to greet him, the light flashed from her face and her eyes, as if +her heart had been a fountain of rosy flame. Beauchamp was magnificent, +the rather quiet tartan of his clan being lighted up with all the +silver and jewels of which the dress admits. In the hilt of his dirk, +in his brooch, and for buttons, he wore a set of old family topazes, +instead of the commoner cairngorm, so that as he entered he flashed +golden light from the dark green cloud of his tartan. Not observing +Alec, he advanced to Kate with the confidence of an accepted lover; but +some motion of her hand or glance from her eyes warned him in time. He +looked round, started a little, and greeted him with a slight bow, of +which Alec took no notice. He then turned to Kate and began to talk in +a low tone, to which she listened with her head hanging like the +topmost bell of a wild hyacinth. As he looked, the last sickly glimmer +of Alec's hope died out in darkness. But he bore up in bitterness, and +a demon awoke in him laughing. He saw the smooth handsome face, the +veil of so much that was mean and wretched, bending over the loveliness +he loved, yet the demon in him only laughed. + +It may appear strange that they should behave so like lovers in the +presence of any third person, much more in the presence of Alec. But +Beauchamp had now made progress enough to secure his revenge of +mortification; and for that, with the power which he had acquired over +Kate's sensitive nature, he drew her into the sphere of his flaunted +triumph, and made her wound Alec to the root of his vulnerable being. +Had Alec then seen his own face, he would have seen upon it the sneer +that he hated so upon that of Beauchamp. For all wickedness tends to +destroy individuality, and declining natures assimilate as they sink. + +Other visitors arrived, and Alec found a strange delight in behaving as +if he knew of no hidden wound, and his mind were in a state of absolute +_neglig�_. But how would he meet the cold wind blowing over the +desolate links? + +Some music, and a good deal of provincial talk--not always less human +and elevating than the metropolitan--followed. Beauchamp moderated his +attentions to Kate; but Alec saw that it was in compliance with his +desire that, though reluctant, she went a second time to the piano. The +song she had just sung was insignificant enough; but the second was one +of the ballads of her old Thulian nurse, and had the merit of an +antique northern foundation at least, although it had evidently passed +through the hands of a lowland poet before it had, in its present form, +found its way northwards again to the Shetland Isles. The first tone of +the ghostly music startled Alec, and would have arrested him even if +the voice had not been Kate's. + + "Sweep up the flure, Janet. + Put on anither peat. + It's a lown and starry nicht, Janet, + And neither cauld nor weet. + + And it's open hoose we keep the nicht + For ony that may be oot. + It's the nicht atween the Sancts and Souls, + Whan the bodiless gang aboot + + Set the chairs back to the wa', Janet; + Mak' ready for quaiet fowk. + Hae a' thing as clean as a win'in' sheet: + They comena ilka ook. + + There's a spale* upo' the flure, Janet; + And there's a rowan-berry: + Sweep them into the fire, Janet.-- + They'll be welcomer than merry. + + Syne set open the door, Janet-- + Wide open for wha kens wha; + As ye come benn to yer bed, Janet, + Set it open to the wa'." + + She set the chairs back to the wa', + But ane made o' the birk; + She sweepit the flure,--left that ae spale, + A lang spale o' the aik. + + The nicht was lowne, and the stars sat still, + Aglintin' doon the sky; + And the souls crap oot o' their mooly graves, + A' dank wi' lyin' by. + + She had set the door wide to the wa', + And blawn the peats rosy reid; + They war shoonless feet gaed oot and in, + Nor clampit as they gaed. + + Whan midnicht cam', the mither rase-- + She wad gae see and hear. + Back she cam' wi' a glowerin' face, + And sloomin' wi' verra fear. + +* A wood-shaving. + + "There's ane o' them sittin' afore the fire! + Janet, gang na to see: + Ye left a chair afore the fire, + Whaur I tauld ye nae chair sud be." + + Janet she smiled in her mother's face: + She had brunt the roddin reid; + And she left aneath the birken chair + The spale frae a coffin-lid. + + She rase and she gaed butt the hoose, + Aye steekin' door and door. + Three hours gaed by or her mother heard + Her fit upo' the floor. + + But whan the grey cock crew, she heard + The sound o' shoeless feet; + Whan the red cock crew, she heard the door, + And a sough o' wind and weet. + + And Janet cam' back wi' a wan face, + But never a word said she; + No man ever heard her voice lood oot, + It cam' like frae ower the sea. + + And no man ever heard her lauch, + Nor yet say alas or wae; + But a smile aye glimmert on her wan face, + Like the moonlicht on the sea. + + And ilka nicht 'tween the Sancts and the Souls, + Wide open she set the door; + And she mendit the fire, and she left ae chair, + And that spale upo' the floor. + + And at midnicht she gaed butt the hoose, + Aye steekin' door and door. + Whan the reid cock crew, she cam' benn the hoose, + Aye wanner than afore-- + + Wanner her face, and sweeter her smile; + Till the seventh All Souls' eve. + Her mother she heard the shoeless feet, + Said "she's comin', I believe." + + But she camna benn, and her mother lay; + For fear she cudna stan'. + But up she rase and benn she gaed, + Whan the gowden cock had crawn. + + And Janet sat upo' the chair, + White as the day did daw; + Her smile was a sunlight left on the sea, + Whan the sun has gane awa'. + +Alec had never till now heard her sing really. Wild music and eerie +ballad together filled and absorbed him. He was still gazing at her +lovely head, when the last wailing sounds of the accompaniment ceased, +and her face turned round, white as Janet's. She gave one glance of +unutterable feeling up into Beauchamp's face, and hiding her own in her +handkerchief, sobbed out, "You would make me sing it!" and left the +room. + +Alec's heart swelled with indignant sympathy. But what could he do? The +room became insupportable the moment she had quitted it, and he made +his way to the door. As he opened it, he could not help glancing at +Beauchamp. Instead of the dismay he expected, he saw triumph on his +pale countenance, and in the curl of his scarred lip.--He flew frantic +from the house. The sky was crowded with the watchings of starry eyes. +To his fancy, they were like Beauchamp's, and he hated them. Seeking +refuge from their gaze, he rushed to the library, and threw himself on +a heap of foreign books, which he had that morning arranged for +binding. A ghostly glimmer from the snow, and the stars overhead, made +the darkness thinner about the windows; but there was no other light in +the place; and there he lay, feeling darker within than the night +around him. Kate was weeping in her room; that contemptible ape had +wounded her; and instead of being sorry for it, was rejoicing in his +power. And he could not go to her; she would receive no comfort from +him. + +It was a bitter hour. Eternity must be very rich to make up for some +such hours. + +He had lain a long time with his face down upon the books, when he +suddenly started and listened. He heard the sound of an opening door, +but not of the door in ordinary use. Thinking it proceeded from some +thievish intent, he kept still. There was another door, in a corner, +covered with books, but it was never opened at all. It communicated +with a part of the buildings of the quadrangle which had been used for +the abode of the students under a former economy. It had been abandoned +now for many years, as none slept any longer within the walls of the +college. Alec knew all this, but he did not know that there was also a +communication between this empty region and Mr Fraser's house; or that +the library had been used before as a _tryst_ by Beauchamp and Kate. + +The door closed, and the light of a lantern flashed to the ceiling. +Wondering that such a place should excite the cupidity of +housebreakers, yet convinced that such the intruders were, Alec moved +gently into the embrasure of one of the windows, against the corner of +which abutted a screen of book-shelves. A certain light rustling, +however, startled him into doubt, and the doubt soon passed into +painful conviction. + +"Why were you so unkind, Patrick?" said the voice of Kate. "You know it +kills me to sing that ballad. I cannot bear it." + +"Why should you mind singing an old song your nurse taught you?" + +"My nurse learned it from my mother. Oh Patrick! what _would_ my mother +say if she knew that I met you this way? You shouldn't ask me. You know +I can refuse you nothing; and you should be generous." + +Alec could not hear his answer, and he knew why. That scar on his lip! +Kate's lips there! + +Of course Alec ought not to have listened. But the fact was, that, for +the time, all consciousness of free will and capability of action had +vanished from his mind. His soul was but a black gulf into which poured +the Phlegethontic cataract of their conversation. + +"Ah, yes, Patrick! Kisses are easy. But you hurt me terribly sometimes. +And I know why. You hate my cousin, poor boy!--and you want me to hate +him too. I wonder if you love me as much as he does!--or did; for +surely I have been unkind enough to cure him of loving me. Surely you +are not jealous of him?" + +"Jealous of _him_!--I should think not!" + +Human expression could have thrown no more scorn into the word. + +"But you hate him." + +"I don't hate him. He's not worth hating--the awkward steer!--although +I confess I have cause to dislike him, and have some gratification in +mortifying him. But he's not a pleasant subject to me." + +"His mother has been very kind to me. I wish you would make it up with +him for my sake, Patrick. He may be uncouth and awkward--I don't +know--but that's no reason for hating him. I love you so that I could +love anybody that loved you. You don't know how I love you, +Patrick--though you are unkind sometimes. The world used to look so +cold, and narrow, and grey; but now there is a flush like sunset over +everything, and I am so happy! Patrick, don't make me do things before +my cousin that will hurt him." + +Alec knew that she pressed closer to Beauchamp, and offered him her +face. + +"Listen, my Kate," said Beauchamp. "I know there are things you cannot +bear to hear; but you must hear this." + +"No, no, not now!" answered Kate, shuddering. + +Alec knew how she looked--saw her with the eyes of his memory as she +had looked once or twice--and listened unconscious of any existence but +that of hearing. + +"You must, Kate, and you shall," said Beauchamp. "You asked me only +yesterday how I came by that scar on my lip. I will tell you. I rebuked +that cousin of yours for unmanly behaviour in the dissecting-room, the +very first time he entered it. He made no reply; but when we came out, +he struck me." + +The icy mood passed away, and such a glow of red anger rushed through +Alec's veins, that he felt as if the hot blast from molten metal were +playing upon his face. That Kate should marry such a man! The same +moment he stood in the light of the lantern, with one word on his lips: + +"Liar!" + +Beauchamp's hand sprang to the hilt of his dirk. Alec laughed with +bitter contempt. + +"Pooh!" he said; "even you will not say I am a coward. Do if you dare!" + +After her first startled cry, Kate had stood staring and trembling. +Beauchamp's presence of mind returned. He thrust his half-drawn dirk +into its sheath, and with a curl of the scarred lip, said coldly-- + +"Eaves-dropping." + +"Lying," retorted Alec. + +"Well, I must say," returned Beauchamp, assuming his most polished +tone, "that this kind of conversation is at least unusual in the +presence of a lady." + +Without making him any reply, Alec turned to Kate. + +"Kate," he said, "I swear to you that I struck him only after fair +warning, after insult to myself, and insult to the dead. He did not +know that I was able to give him the chastisement he deserved." + +I doubt if Kate heard any of this speech. She had been leaning against +a book-case, and from it she now slipped sideways to the floor. + +"You brute!" said Beauchamp. "You will answer to me for this." + +"When you please," returned Alec. "Meantime you will leave this room, +or I will make you." + +"Go to the devil!" said Beauchamp, again laying his hand on his dirk. + +"You can claim fair play no more than a wolf," said Alec, keeping his +eye on his enemy's hand. "You had better go. I have only to ring this +bell and the sacrist will be here." + +"That is your regard for your cousin! You would expose her to the +servants!" + +"I will expose her to anything rather than to you. I have held my +tongue too long." + +"And you will leave her lying here?" + +"You will leave her lying here." + +"That is your revenge, is it?" + +"I want no revenge even on you, Beauchamp. Go." + +"I will neither forestall nor forget mine," said Beauchamp, as he +turned and went out into the quadrangle. + +When Alec came to think about it, he could not understand the ease of +his victory. He did not know what a power their first encounter had +given him over the inferior nature of Beauchamp, in whom the animal, +unsupported by the moral, was cowed before the animal in Forbes, backed +by the sense of right. + +And above all things Beauchamp hated to find himself in an awkward +position, which certainly would have been his case if Alec had rung for +the sacrist. Nor was he capable of acting well on the spur of any +moment. He must have plans: those he would carry out remorselessly.--So +he went away to excogitate further revenge. But he was in love with +Kate just enough to be uneasy as to the result of Alec's interview with +her. + +Returning to Kate, Alec found her moaning. He supported her head as she +had done for him in that old harvest field, and chafed her chilly +hands. Before her senses had quite returned, she began to talk, and, +after several inarticulate attempts, her murmured words became plain. + +"Never mind, dear," she said; "the boy is wild. He doesn't know what he +says. Oh, Patrick, my heart is aching with love to you. It is good +love, I know; and you must be kind to me, and not make me do what I +don't like to do. And you must forgive my poor cousin, for he did not +mean to tell lies. He fancies you bad, because I love you so much more +than him. But you know I can't help it, and I daresay he can't either." + +Alec felt as if a green flame were consuming his brain. And the blood +surged so into his head and eyes, that he saw flashes of fire between +him and Kate. He could not remain in such a false position, with Kate +taking him for her lover. But what an awful shock it would be to her +when she discovered the truth! How was it to be avoided? He must get +her home before she recovered quite. For this there was but one chance, +and that lay in a bold venture. Mr Fraser's door was just across a +corner of the quadrangle. He would carry her to her own room. The +guests must be gone, and it was a small household, so that the chance +of effecting it undiscovered was a good one. He did effect it; in three +minutes more he had laid her on her own bed, had rung her bell, and had +sped out of the house as fast and as quietly as he could. + +His gratification at having succeeded in escaping Kate's recognition, +bore him up for a little, but before he reached home his heart felt +like a burnt-out volcano. + +Meantime Mr Cupples had been fretting over his absence, for he had come +to depend very much upon Alec. At last he had rung the bell, knowing +that Mrs Leslie was out, and that it would be answered by a dirty girl +in nailed shoes turned down at the heel; she would be open to a bribe. +Nor did she need much persuasion besides. Off she ran with his empty +bottle, to get it filled at the grocer's over the way. + +When Alec came home, he found his friend fast asleep in bed, the room +smelling strongly of toddy, and the bottle standing on the table beside +the empty tumbler. Faint in body, mind, and spirit, as if from the +sudden temptation of an unholy power, he caught up the bottle. The +_elixir mortis_ flowed gurgling from the narrow neck into the tumbler +which Mr Cupples had lately emptied. Heedless and reckless, he nearly +filled it, and was just lifting it to his lips, when a cry half-moulded +into a curse rang from the bed, and the same instant the tumbler was +struck from his hand. It flew in fragments against the grate, and the +spirit rushed in a roaring flame of demoniacal wrath up the chimney. + +"Damn you!" half-shrieked, half-panted Mr Cupples in his night-shirt, +at Alec's elbow, still under the influence of the same spirit he had +banned on its way to Alec Forbes's empty house--"damn you, bantam! +ye've broken my father's tumler. De'il tak' ye for a vaigabon'! I've a +guid min' to thraw the neck o' ye!" + +Seeing Mr Cupples was only two-thirds of Alec's height, and one-half of +his thickness, the threat, as he then stood, was rather ludicrous. +Miserable as he was, Alec could not help laughing. + +"Ye may lauch, bantam! but I want no companion in hell to cast his +damnation in my teeth. Gin ye touch that bottle again, faith, I'll +brain ye, and sen' ye into the ither warl' withoot that handle at least +for Sawtan to catch a grip o' ye by. And there _may_ be a handle +somewhaur o' the richt side o' ye for some saft-hertit angel to lay +han' upo' and gie ye a lift whaur ye ill deserve to gang, ye thrawn +buckie! Efter a' that I hae said to ye!--Damn ye!" + +Alec burst into a loud roar of laughter. For there was the little man +standing in his shirt, shaking a trembling fist at him, stammering with +eagerness, and half-choked with excitement. + +"Gang to yer bed, Mr Cupples, or ye'll tak' yer deith o' cauld. Luik +here." + +And Alec seized the bottle once more. Mr Cupples flew at him, and would +have knocked the bottle after the glass, had not Alec held it high +above his reach, exclaiming, + +"Toots, man! I'm gaein' to pit it intil its ain neuk. Gang ye to yer +bed, and lippen to me." + +"Ye gie me yer word, ye winna pit it to yer mou'?" + +"I do," answered Alec. + +The same moment Mr Cupples was floundering on the bed in a perplexed +attempt to get under the bed-clothes. A violent fit of coughing was the +consequence of the exertion. + +"Ye're like to toom yer ain kist afore ye brain my pan, Mr Cupples," +said Alec. + +"Haud yer tongue, and lat me host (cough) in peace," panted Mr Cupples. + +When the fit was over, he lay still, and stared at Alec. Alec had sat +down in Mr Cupples's easy-chair, and was staring at the fire. + +"I see," muttered Mr Cupples. "This'll do no longer. The laddie's +gaein' to the dogs for want o' bein' luikit efter. I maun be up the +morn. It's thae wimmen! thae wimmen! Puir things! they canna aye help +it; but, de'il tak' them for bonnie oolets! mony's the fine laddie they +drive into the cluiks o' auld Horney. Michtna some gran' discovery be +made in Pheesiology, to enable the warl' to gang on wantin' them? But, +Lord preserve me! I wad hae naething left worth greetin' aboot!" + +He hid his face in the bed-clothes. + +Alec hearing part of this muttered discourse, had grown attentive, but +there was nothing more forthcoming. He sat for a little, staring +helplessly into the fire. The world was very blank and dismal. + +Then he rose to go to bed; for Mr Cupples did not require him now. +Finding him fast asleep under the bed-clothes, he made him as +comfortable as he could. Then he locked the closet where the whisky +was, and took the key with him. + +Their mutual care in this respect was comical. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXX. + + +The next morning, Alec saw Mr Cupples in bed before he left. His +surprise therefore was great when, entering the library after morning +lectures, he found him seated in his usual place, hard at work on his +catalogue. Except that he was yet thinner and paler than before, the +only difference in his appearance was that his eyes were brighter and +his complexion was clearer. + +"You here, Mr Cupples!" he exclaimed. + +"What garred ye lock the press last nicht, ye deevil?" returned the +librarian, paying no attention to Alec's expression of surprise. "But I +say, bantam," he continued, not waiting for a reply, which indeed was +unnecessary, "ye hae dune yer wark weel--verra near as weel's I cud hae +dune't mysel'." + +"I'm sure, Mr Cupples, it was the least thing I could do." + +"Ye impident cock! It was the verra best you cud do, or ye wadna hae +come within sicht o' me. I mayna be muckle at thrashin' attoarneys, or +cuttin' up deid corpuses, but I defy ye to come up to me at onything +conneckit wi' buiks." + +"Faith! Mr Cupples, ye may gang farther nor that. Efter what ye hae +dune for me, gin I war a general, ye sud lead the Forlorn Hope." + +"Ay, ay. It's a forlorn hope, a' 'at I'm fit for, Alec Forbes," +returned Cupples sadly. + +This struck Alec so near his own grief that he could not reply with +even seeming cheerfulness. He said nothing. Mr Cupples resumed. + +"I hae twa three words to say to you, Alec Forbes. Can ye believe in a +man as weel's ye can in a wumman?" + +"I can believe in you, Mr Cupples. That I'll sweir till." + +"Weel, jist sit doon there, and carry on frae whaur ye loot sit. Syne +efter the three o'clock lecture--wha is't ye're atten'in' this +session?--we'll gang doon to Luckie Cumstie's, and hae a moufu' o' +denner--she 'll do her best for me--an' I'll hae jist a tumler o' +toddy--but de'il a drap sall ye hae, bantam--and de'il a word will I +say to ye there. But we'll come back here, and i' the gloamin', I'll +gie ye a bit episode i' my life.--Episode did I ca' 'it? Faith it's my +life itsel', and no worth muckle, eyther. Ye'll be the first man that +ever I tell't it till. And ye may judge o' my regaird for ye frae that +fac'." + +Alec worked away at his catalogue, and then attended the afternoon +lecture. The dinner at Luckie Cumstie's followed--of the plainest, but +good. Alec's trouble had not yet affected the region in which Paley +seats the organ of happiness. And while an appetite exists, a dinner +will be interesting. Just as the gloaming was fading into night, they +went back to the library. + +"Will I rin ower to the sacrist's for a licht?" asked Alec. + +"Na, na; lat be. The mirk's mercifu', whiles." + +"I canna unnerstan' ye, Mr Cupples. Sin ever I kent ye i' this library, +I never kent ye bide the oncome o' the nicht. As sune's the gloamin' +began to fa', ye aye flew to yer hat, and oot at the door as gin there +had been a ghaist gettin' its banes thegither oot o' the dark to come +at ye." + +"Maybe sae there was, bantam. Sae nane o' your jokin'." + +"I didna mean to anger ye, Mr Cupples." + +"Whaur naething's meant, naething's dune. I'm nae angert. And that +ye'll sune see. Sit ye doon there, and tak yer plaid aboot ye, or ye'll +be cauld." + +"Ye hae nae plaid yersel. Ye're mair like to be cauld nor I am." + +"I weir my plaid o' my inside. Ye haena had ony toddy. Deil's broo! It +may weel haud a body warm. It comes frae a het quarter." + +The open oak ceiling overhead was getting very dark by this time; and +the room, divided and crowded with books in all directions, left little +free course to the light that struggled through the dusty windows. The +friends seated themselves on the lower steps of an open circular oak +staircase which wound up to a gallery running round the walls. + +"Efter I had taen my degree," began Mr Cupples, "frae the han' o' this +same couthy auld mither, I heard o' a grit leebrary i' the north--I +winna say whaur--that wantit the han' o' a man that kenned what he was +aboot, to pit in dacent order, sae that a body cud lay his han's upon a +buik whan he wantit it, and no be i' the condition o' Tantalus, wi' +watter at the mou, but nane for the hause (throat). Dinna imaigin' it +was a public library. Na, na. It belonged to a grit an' gran' +hoose--the Lord hae respec till't, for it's no joke o' a hoose that--as +I weel kent afore a' was ower! Weel, I wrought awa', likin' the wark +weel, for a buik's the bonniest thing i' the warl' but ane, and there's +no dirl (thrill) in't whan ye lay han's upo' 't, as there is, guid +kens, in the ither. Man, ye had better lay han's upon a torpedo, or a +galvanic battery, nor upon a woman--I mean a woman that ye hae ony +attraction till--for she'll gar ye dirl till ye dinna ken yer thoomb +frae yer muckle tae. But I was speikin' aboot buiks an' no aboot women, +only somehoo whatever a man begins wi', he'll aye en' aff wi' the same +thing. The Lord hae a care o' them, for they're awfu' craters! They're +no like ither fowk a'thegither. Weel, ye see, I had a room till +mysel', forby the library an' my bedroom--an' a gran' place that was! I +didna see onything o' the family, for I had my denner and my wine and +'a thing human stammack cud desire served up till me i' my ain room. +But ae day, my denner was made up o' ae mess efter anither, vera fine +nae doot, but unco queer and ootlandish, and I had nae appeteet, and I +cudna eat it. Sae I rase, afore my ordinar' time, and gaed back to my +wark. I had taen twa or three glasses o' a dooms fine tipple they ca' +Madeira, an' a moufu' o' cheese--that was a'. Weel, I sat doon to my +catalogue there, as it micht be here; but I hadna sat copyin' the +teetles o' the buiks laid out upo' the muckle table afore me, for mair +nor twa minutes, whan I heard a kin' o' a reestlin', an' I thocht it +was mice, to whilk I'm a deidly enemy ever sin they ate half o' a first +edition o' the _Fairy Queen_, conteenin' only the first three buiks, ye +ken, o' whilk they consumed an' nae doot assimilated ae haill buik and +full a half o' anither. But whan I luikit up, what sud I see but a wee +leddy, in a goon the colour o' a clood that's takin' nae pairt i' the +sunset, but jist lookin' on like, stan'in afore the buik-shelves i' the +further en' o' the room. Noo I'm terrible lang-sichtit, and I had +pitten the buiks i' that pairt a' richt already wi' my ain han'--and I +saw her put her han' upon a buik that was no fit for her. I winna say +what it was. Some hermaphrodeet cratur had written't that had no respec +for man or woman, an' whase neck sud hae been thrawn by the midwife, +for that buik cam o' sparin' o' 'm! + +"'Dinna touch that buik, my bonny leddy,' I cried. 'It's awfu' fu' o' +dist and stoor. It'll smore ye to open the twa brods o' 't. Yer rosy +goon'll be clean blaudit wi' the stew (dust) o' 't.' + +"She startit and luikit roon some frichtit like, and I rase an' gaed +across the flure till her. And her face grew bonnier as I cam nearer +till her. Her nose an' her twa eebrees jist min'd ye upo' the picturs +o' the Holy Ghost comin' doon like a doo; and oot aneath ilka wing +there luikit a hert o' licht--that was her twa een, that gaed throu and +throu me as gin I had been a warp and they twa shuttles; and faith! +they made o' my life and o' me what it is and I am. They wove the wab +o' me. + +"Ay. They gaed oot and in, and throu and throu, and back and fore, and +roon and aboot, till there wasna a nerve or a fibre o' my bein', but +they had twisted it up jist as a spither does a flee afore he sooks the +life oot o' 't. But that's a prolepsis." + +"'Are you the librarian?' said she, saft and sma', like hersel'. + +"'That I am, mem,' said I. 'My name's Cupples--at your service, mem.' + +"'I was looking, Mr Cupples,' said she, 'for some book to help me to +learn Gaelic. I want very much to read Gaelic.' + +"'Weel, mem,' said I, 'gin it had been ony o' the Romance languages, or +ony ane o' the Teutonic breed, I micht hae gien ye a lift. But I doot +ye maun bide till ye gang to Edinburgh, or Aberdeen, whaur ye'll easy +fa' in wi' some lang-leggit bejan that'll be prood to instruc' ye, and +coont himsel' ower weel paid wi' the sicht o' yer bonny face.' + +"She turned some reid at that, and I was feared that I had angert her. +But she gied a sma' lauch, and oot at the door she gaed, wi' her 'rosy +fleece o' fire' lowin' and glimmerin' aboot her, jist like ane o' the +seraphims that auld Crashaw sings aboot. Only she was gey sma' for a +seraph, though they're nae ower big. Weel, ye see, that was the first +time I saw her. And I thochtna ower muckle mair aboot her. But in a day +or twa there she was again. And she had a hantle to speir at me aboot; +and it took a' the knowledge I had o' buiks in general to answer her +questions. In fac I was whiles compelled to confess my ignorance, which +is no pleesant whan a man wants to stan' weel wi' a bonny crater that +spiers questons. Whan she gaed, I gaed efter her, followin' aboot at +her--i' my thochts, I mean--like a hen efter her ae chucken. She was +bonnier this time than the last. She had tired o' the rosy clood, and +she had on a bonny goon o' black silk, sae modest and sae rich, wi' +diamond buttons up the front o' the briest o' 't. Weel, to mak a lang +story short, and the shorter the better, for it's nae a pleesant ane to +me, she cam aftener and aftener. And she had sae muckle to say and +speir aboot, that at last we had to tak doon buiks, and I had to clear +a neuk o' the table. At lenth I cam to luik for her as reglar as gin +she had been a ghaist, and the time that chappit upo' the auld clock +had belongt to the midnicht instead o' the mornin'. Ye'll be wonnerin' +what like she was. As I tell't ye, she was a wee body, wi' muckle black +een, that lay quaiet in her face and never cam oot till they war +wantit, an' a body gimp and sma', but roon' and weel proportioned +throughoot. Her hand and her fit war jist past expression bonny. And +she had a' her features conformin'--a' sma' but nane o' them ower sma' +in relation to ane anither. And she had a licht way wi' her, that was +jist dazin'. She seemed to touch ilka thing wi' the verra tips o' her +fingers, and syne ken a'thing aboot it, as gin she had a universal +insicht; or raither, I wad say, her natur, notwithstandin' its variety, +was sae homogeneous, that whan ae nerve o' her spiritual being cam in +contack wi' onything, the haill sowl o' her cam in contack wi' 't at +the same time and thereby; and ilka pairt read the report efter its ain +fashion, translatin' 't accordin' to 'ts ain experience: as the +different provinces and languages o' the Chinese Empire read the +universal written tongue. A heap o' pains I took that I micht never hae +to say _I dinna ken_ to sic a gleg-ee'd cratur as that. And ilka day +she cam to read wi' me, and we jist got on like a mail-coach--at least +I did--only the wrang road. An' she cam aye i' the efternoon and bade +till the gloamin' cam doon an' it grew ower mirk to ken the words frae +ane anither. And syne she wad gang and dress hersel' for denner, as she +said. + +"Ye may say I was a muckle gowk. And ye may lauch at a bairn for +greitin' efter the mune; but I doot that same avarice o' the wee man +comes frae a something in him that he wad be ill aff wi'oot. Better +greit for the mune than no be cawpable o' greetin' for the mune. And +weel I wat, I grat for the mune, or a' was dune, and didna get it, ony +mair than the lave o' my greedy wee brithers." + +The night had gathered thick about them. And for a few moments out of +the darkness came no sound. At length Mr Cupples resumed: + +"I maun jist confess, cauf that I was--and yet I wad hae been a greater +cauf gin it hadna been sae--I cud hae lickit the verra dist aff o' the +flure whaur her fit had been. Man, I never saw onything like her, The +hypostasis o' her was jist perfection itsel'. Weel, ae nicht--for I +wrocht full late, my een war suddenly dazed wi' the glimmer o' +something white. I thocht the first minute that I had seen a ghost, and +the neist that I was a ghost mysel'. For there she was in a fluffy +cloud o' whiteness, wi' her bonny bare shouthers and airms, and jist ae +white rose in her black hair, and deil a diamond or ruby aboot her! + +"'It's so hot,' said she, 'in the drawing-room! And they're talking +such nonsense there! There's nobody speaks sense to me but you, Mr +Cupples.' + +"''Deed, mem,' says I, 'I dinna ken whaur it's to come frae the nicht. +For I hae nae sense left but ane, and that's nearhan' 'wi' excess o' +brightness blind.' Auld Spenser says something like that, doesna he, +mem?' I added, seein' that she luikit some grave. But what she micht +hae said or dune, I dinna ken; for I sweir to ye, bantam, I know +nothing that happent efter, till I cam' to mysel' at the soun' o' a +lauch frae outside the door. I kenned it weel eneuch, though it was a +licht flutterin' lauch. Maybe I heard it the better frae the conductin' +pooer o' timmer, for my broo was doon o' the buirds o' the flure. I +sprang to my feet, but the place reeled roon', and I fell. It was the +lauch that killed me. What for sud she lauch?--And sic a ane as her +that was no licht-heidit lassie, but cud read and unnerstan', wi the +best? I suppose I had gane upo' my knees till her, and syne like the +lave o' the celestials she tuik to her feathers and flew. But I ken nae +mair than this: that for endless ages I gaed followin' her through the +heavenly halls, aye kennin as sure's gospel that she was ahint the +neist door, and aye openin' that door upon an empty glory, to be +equally certain that she was ahint the neist. And sae on I gaed till, +ahint ane o' the thoosan' doors, I saw the reek-enamelled couples o' my +auld mither's bit hoosie upo' the mairgin o' the bog, and she was +hingin' ower me, sayin' her prayers as gin she wad gang efter them like +a balloon wi' verra fervour. And whan she saw my een open, she drappit +upo' her knees and gaed on prayin'. And I wonner that thae prayers +warna hearkent till. I never cud unnerstan' that." + +"Hoo ken ye that they warna hearkent till?" asked Alec. + +"Luik at me! Do ye ca' that hearkenin' till a prayer? Luik what she got +me back for. Ca' ye that an answer to prayers like my auld mither's? +Faith! I'll be forced to repent some day for her sake, though there +sudna be anither woman atween Venus and Mars but wad rive wi' lauchin +at a word frae Cosmo Cupples. But, man! I wad hae repentit lang syne +gin I cud hae gotten ae glimp o' a possible justice in pittin a hert as +grit's mine into sic a misgreein', scrimpit, contemptible body as this. +The verra sowl o' me has to draw up the legs o' 't to haud them inside +this coffin o' a corpus, and haud them ohn shot oot into the +everlastin' cauld. Man, the first thing I did, whan I cam' to mysel', +was to justify her afore God for lauchin at me. Hoo could onybody help +lauchin at me? It wasna her wyte. And eh! man, ye dinna ken hoo quaiet +and comfortable I was in my ain min', as sune's I had gotten her +justified to mysel' and had laid it doon that I was ane fit to be +lauchen at.--I winna lat you lauch at me, though, bantam. I tell ye +that." + +"Mr Cupples! Laugh at you! I would rather be a doormat to the devil,' +exclaimed Alec. + +"Thank you, bantam.--Weel, ye see, ance I had made up my min' aboot +that, I jist began followin' at her again like a hungry tyke that stops +the minute ye liuk roon efter him--I mean i' my thochts, ye ken--jist +as I had been followin' her, a' the time o' my fiver, throu the halls +o' heaven, as I thoucht them, whan they war only the sma' +crinkle-crankle convolutions o' my cerebral dome-�a puir heaven for a +man to bide in! I hae learnt that waur and better than maist men, as +I'm gaein to tell ye; for it was for the sake o' that that I begud this +dismal story.--Whan I grew some better, and wan up--wad ye believe +'t?--the kin'ness o' the auld, warpit, broon, wrinklet woman that +brocht me furth, me Cosmo Cupples, wi' the muckle hert and the sma' +body, began to console me a wee for the lauch o' that queen o' +white-skinned leddies. It was but a wee, ye ken; still it was +consolation. My mither thocht a heap o' me. Fowk thinks mair o' fowk, +the mair they are themsels. But I wat it was sma' honour I brocht her +hame, wi' my een brunt oot wi' greetin' for the mune.--I'll tell ye the +lave o' 't efter we win hame. I canna bide to be here i' the dark. It's +the quaiet beuks a' roon' me that I canna bide. It was i' the mids o' +beuks, i' the dark, that I heard that lauch. It jist blastit me and the +beuks and a' thing. They aye luik as gin they war hearin' 't. For the +first time I loot the gloamin come doon upo' me i' this same leebrary, +a' at ance I heard the sma' nicher o' a woman's lauch frae somewhaur in +or oot o' the warl'. I grew as het's hell, and was oot at the door in a +cat-loup. And as sure's death I'll hear't again, gin I bide ae minute +langer. Come oot wi' ye." + +There was light in Mr Fraser's drawing-room, and a shadow flitted +across the blind. The frosty night, and the keenness of the stars, made +Mr Cupples shiver. Alec was in a feverous glow. When they reached home, +Mr Cupples went straight to the cupboard, swallowed a glass of the +_merum_, put coals on the fire, drew his chair close to it, and said: + +"It's dooms cauld! Sit doon there, bantam. Pit on the kettle first. +It's an ac' o' the purest disinteresstitness, for deil a drap sall ye +drink! But I'll sing ye a sang, by way o' upmak'." + +"I never heard ye sing, Mr Cupples. Ye can do a' thing, I think." + +"I cudna gar a bonnie, high-born, white-handit leddy fa' in love wi' a +puir futteret (weasel) o' a crater--a shargar (scrag) like Cosmo +Cupples, bantam. But I can do twa or three things; an' ane o' them is, +I can mak' a sang; and anither is, I can mak' a tune till't; and a +third is, I can sing the tane to the tither, that is whan I haena had +either ower muckle or ower little o' the tappit hen. Noo, heark ye. +This ane's a' my ain: + +GAEIN' AND COMIN'. + + Whan Andrew frae Strathbogie gaed, + The lift was lowerin' dreary; + The sun he wadna lift his heid; + The win' blew laich and eerie. + In's pouch he had a plack or twa, + I vow he hadna mony; + Yet Andrew like a lintie sang, + For Lizzie was sae bonny! + + O Lizzie, Lizzie, bonnie lassie! + Bonnie, saucy hizzie! + What richt had ye to luik at me, + And drive me daft and dizzy? + + Whan Andrew to Strathbogie cam', + The sun was shinin' rarely; + He rade a horse that pranced and sprang-- + I vow he sat him fairly. + And he had gowd to spend and spare, + And a heart as true as ony; + But's luik was doon, and his sigh was sair, + For Lizzie was sae bonny! + + O Lizzie, Lizzie, bonny hizzie! + Ye've turned the daylicht dreary. + Ye're straucht and rare, ye're fause and fair-- + Hech! auld John Armstrong's dearie!" + +His voice was mellow, and ought to have been even. His expression was +perfect. + +The kettle was boiling. Mr Cupples made his toddy, and resumed his +story. + +"As sune's I was able, I left my mither greitin'--God bless her!--and +cam to this toon, for I wasna gaein' to be eaten up with idleset as +weel's wi' idolatry. The first thing I tuik till was teachin'. Noo +that's a braw thing, whan the laddies and lassies want to learn, and +hae questons o' their ain to speir. But whan they dinna care, it's the +verra deevil. Or lang, a'thing grew grey. I cared for naething and +naebody. My verra dreams gaed frae me, or cam only to torment me, wi' +the reid hert o' them changed to yallow and grey. + +"Weel, ae nicht I had come hame worn oot wi' warstlin' to gar bairns +eat that had no hunger, I spied upo' the table a bottle o' whusky. A +frien' o' mine--a grocer he was--had sent it across the street to me, +for it was hard upo' Hogmanay. I rang the bell incontinent. Up comes +the lass, and says I, 'Bell, lat's hae a kettlefu' o' het water.' And +to mak' a lang story short, I could never want het water sin syne. For +I hadna drunken aboon a twa glaiss, afore the past began to revive as +gin ye had come ower't wi' a weet sponge. A' the colours cam' oot upo' +'t again, as gin they had never turned wan and grey; and I said to +mysel' wi' pride: 'My leddy canna, wi' a' her breedin' and her bonnie +skin, haud Cosmo Cupples frae lo'ein' her.' And I followed aboot at her +again throu a' the oots and ins o' the story, and the past was restored +to me.--That's hoo it appeared to me that nicht.--Was't ony wonner that +the first thing I did whan I cam' hame the neist nicht was to ring for +the het water? I wantit naething frae Providence or Natur' but jist +that the colour michtna be a' ta'en oot o' my life. The muckle deevil +was in't, that I cudna stan' up to my fate like a man, and, gin my life +was to cast the colour, jist tak my auld cloak aboot me, and gang on +content. But I cudna. I bude to see things bonnie, or my strength gaed +frae me. But ye canna slink in at back doors that gait. I was pitten +oot, and oot I maun bide. It wasna that lang afore I began to discover +that it was a' a delusion and a snare. Whan I fell asleep, I wad dream +whiles that, openin' the door into ane o' thae halls o' licht, there +she was stan'in' lauchin' at me. And she micht hae gane on lauchin' to +a' eternity--for onything I cared. And--ten times waur--I wad whiles +come upon her greitin' and repentin', and haudin' oot her han' to me, +and me carin' no more for her than for the beard o' a barley-stalk. And +for makin' a sang--I jist steikit my lugs (stopped my ears) whan I +heard a puir misguidit canary singin' i' the sunshine. And I begud to +hear a laich lauch far awa', and it cam' nearer and nearer ilka week, +till it was ringin' i' my verra lug. But a' that was naething +compairateevely. I' the mids o' a quaiet contemplation, suddenly, wi' +an awfu' stoon, a ghaistly doobt pat it's heid up i' my breist, and +cried: 'It's a' fause. The grey luik o' life's the true ane, and the +only aspec' ye hae a richt to see.' And efter that, a' the whusky in +Glenlivat cudna console me.--Luik at me noo. Ye see what I am. I can +whiles sing an auld sang--but mak' a new ane!--Lord, man! I can hardly +believe 'at ever I made a sang i' my life. Luik at my han' hoo it +trimles. Luik at my hert. It's brunt oot. There's no a leevin' crater +but yersel' that I hae ony regaird for, sin my auld mither deid. Gin it +warna for buiks, I wad amaist cut my throat. And the senawtus disna +think me bye and aboon half a proper companion for buiks even; as gin +Cupples micht corrup' Milton himsel, although he was ten feet ower his +heid bottled in a buik. And whan I saw ye poor oot the whusky in that +mad-like mainner, as gin 't had been some sma' tipple o' penny ale, it +jist drave me mad wi' anger." + +"Weel, Mr Cupples," Alec ventured to say, "what for dinna ye sen' the +bottle to the devil?" + +"What, my ain auld tappit hen!" exclaimed Mr Cupples, with a sudden +reaction from the seriousness of his late mood; "Na, na, she shanna +gang to the deil till we gang thegither. Eh! but we'll baith hae dry +insides or we win frae him again, I doobt. That drouth's an awfu' thing +to contemplate. But speyk o' giein' ower the drink! The verra +attemp'--an' dinna ye think that I haena made it--aich! What for sud I +gang to hell afore my time? The deils themselves compleen o' that. Na, +na. Ance ye hae learned to drink, ye _canna_ do wantin' 't. Man, dinna +touch 't. For God's sake, for yer mither's sake, for _ony_ sake, dinna +lat a drap o' the hell-broth gang ower yer thrapple--or ye're damned +like me for ever and ever. It's as guid's signin' awa' yer sowl wi' yer +ain han' and yer ain blude." + +Mr Cupples lifted his glass, emptied it, and, setting it down on the +table with a gesture of hatred, proceeded to fill it yet again. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXI. + + +"I say, Forbes, you keep yourself all to yourself and old Cupples, away +there in the new town. Come and take some supper with me to-night. It's +my birthday, old boy." + +"I don't do much in that way, you know, Gibby." + +"Oh yes, I know. You're never jolly but amongst the shell-fish. At +least that's what the Venall thinks of you. But for once in a way you +might come." + +"Well, I don't mind," said Alec, really not caring what came to him or +of him, and glad of anything to occupy him with no-thinking. "When +shall I come?" + +"At seven. We'll have a night of it. To-morrow's Saturday." + +It was hardly worth while to go home. He would not dine to-day. He +would go and renew his grief by the ever-grieving sea. For his was a +young love, and his sorrow was interesting to him: he embalmed his +pangs in the amber of his consciousness. So he crossed the links to the +desolate sandy shore; there let the sound of the waves enter the +portals of his brain and fill all its hollow caves with their moaning; +and then wandering back to the old city, stood at length over the +keystone of the bridge, and looked down into the dark water below the +Gothic arch. + +He heard a footstep behind him on the bridge. Looking round he saw +Beauchamp. Without reason or object, he walked up to him and barred his +way. Beauchamp started, and drew back. + +"Beauchamp," said Alec, "you are my devil." + +"Granted," said Beauchamp, coolly, but on his guard. + +"What are you about with my cousin?" + +"What is that to you?" + +"She is my cousin." + +"I don't care. She's not mine." + +"If you play her false, as you have played me--by heavens!--" + +"Oh! I'll be very kind to her. You needn't be afraid. I only wanted to +take down your damned impudence. You may go to her when you like." + +Alec's answer was a blow, which Beauchamp was prepared for and avoided. +Alec pursued the attack with a burning desire to give him the +punishment he deserved. But he turned suddenly sick, and, although he +afterwards recalled a wrestle, knee to knee, the first thing he was +aware of was the cold waters of the river closing over him. The shock +restored him. When he rose to the surface he swam down the stream, for +the banks were precipitous in the neighbourhood of the bridge. At +length he succeeded in landing, and set out for home. He had not gone +far, however, before he grew very faint, and had to sit down on a +door-step. Then he discovered that his arm was bleeding, and knew that +Beauchamp had stabbed him. He contrived to tie it up after a fashion, +and reached home without much more difficulty. Mr Cupples had not come +in. So he got his landlady to tie up his arm for him, and then changed +his clothes. Fortunately the wound, although long and deep, ran +lengthways between the shoulder and elbow, on the outside of the arm, +and so was not of a serious character. After he was dressed, feeling +quite well, he set off to keep his engagement with Gilbert Gordon. + +Now how could such a thing have taken place in the third decade of the +nineteenth century?--The parapet was low and the struggle was fierce. I +do not think that Beauchamp intended murder, for the consequences of +murder must be a serious consideration to every gentleman. He came of a +wild race, with whom a word and a steel blow had been linked for ages. +And habits transmitted become instincts. He was of a cold temperament, +and such a nature, once roused, is often less under control than one +used to excitement: a saint will sometimes break through the bonds of +the very virtue which has gained him all his repute. If we combine +these considerations with the known hatred of Beauchamp, the story Alec +told Cupples the next day may become in itself credible. Whether +Beauchamp tried to throw him from the bridge may remain doubtful, for +when the bodies of two men are locked in the wrestle of hate, their own +souls do not know what they intend. Beauchamp must have sped home with +the conscience of a murderer; and yet when Alec made his appearance in +the class, most probably a revival of hatred was his first mental +experience. But I have had no opportunity of studying the morbid +anatomy of Beauchamp, and I do not care about him, save as he +influences the current of this history. When he vanishes, I shall be +glad to forget him. + +Soon after Alec had left the house, Cupples came home with a hurried +inquiry whether the landlady had seen anything of him. She told him as +much as she knew, whereupon he went up-stairs to his �schylus, &c. + +Alec said nothing about his adventure to any of his friends, for, like +other Scotchmen young and old, he liked to keep things in his own hands +till he knew what to do with them. At first, notwithstanding his loss +of blood, he felt better than he had felt for some time; but in the +course of the evening he grew so tired, and his brain grew so muddy and +brown, that he was glad when he heard the order given for the boiling +water. He had before now, although Mr Cupples had never become aware of +the fact, partaken of the usual source of Scotch exhilaration, and had +felt nothing the worse; and now heedless of Mr Cupples's elaborate +warning--how could he be expected to mind it?--he mixed himself a +tumbler eagerly. But although the earth brightened up under its +influences, and a wider horizon opened about him than he had enjoyed +for months before, yet half-frightened at the power of the beverage +over his weakened frame, he had conscience enough to refuse a second +tumbler, and rose early and went home. + +The moment he entered the garret, Mr Cupples, who had already consumed +his nightly portion, saw that he had been drinking. He looked at him +with blue eyes, wide-opened, dismay and toddy combining to render them +of uncertain vision. + +"Eh, bantam! bantam!" he said, and sank back in his chair; "ye hae been +at it in spite o' me." + +And Mr Cupples burst into silent tears--no unusual phenomenon in men +under the combined influences of emotion and drink. Notwithstanding his +own elevated condition, Alec was shocked. + +"Mr Cupples," he said, "I want to tell you all about it." + +Mr Cupples took no notice. Alec began his story notwithstanding, and as +he went on, his friend became attentive, inserting here and there an +expletive to the disadvantage of Beauchamp, whose behaviour with regard +to Kate he now learned for the first time. When Alec had finished, +Cupples said solemnly: + +"I warned ye against him, Alec. But a waur enemy nor Beauchamp has +gotten a sickerer haud o' ye, I doobt. Do 'at he like, Beauchamp's dirk +couldna hurt ye sae muckle as yer ain han', whan ye liftit the first +glass to yer ain mou' the nicht. Ye hae despised a' my warnings. And +sorrow and shame'll come o' 't. And I'll hae to beir a' the wyte o' 't. +Yer mither'll jist hate me like the verra black taed that no woman can +bide. Gang awa' to yer bed. I canna bide the sicht o' ye." + +Alec went to bed, rebuked and distressed. But not having taken enough +to hurt him much, he was unfortunately able, the next morning, to +regard Mr Cupples's lecture from a ludicrous point of view. And what +danger was he in more than the rest of the fellows, few of whom would +refuse a tumbler of toddy, and fewer of whom were likely to get +drunk?--Had not Alec been unhappy, he would have been in less danger +than most of them; but he was unhappy. + +And although the whisky had done him no great immediate injury, yet its +reaction, combined with the loss of blood, made him restless all that +day. So that, when the afternoon came, instead of going to Mr Cupples +in the library, he joined some of the same set he had been with the +evening before. And when he came home, instead of going up-stairs to Mr +Cupples, he went straight to bed. + +The next morning, while he was at breakfast, Mr Cupples made his +appearance in his room. + +"What cam' o' ye last nicht, bantam?" he asked kindly, but with evident +uneasiness. + +"I cam' hame some tired, and gaed straucht to my bed." + +"But ye warna hame verra ear'." + +"I wasna that late." + +"Ye hae been drinkin' again. I ken by the luik o' yer een." + +Alec had a very even temper. But a headache and a sore conscience +together were enough to upset it. To be out of temper with oneself is +to be out of temper with the universe. + +"Did my mother commission you to look after me, Mr Cupples?" he asked, +and could have dashed his head against the wall the next moment. But +the look of pitying and yet deprecating concern in Mr Cupples's face +fixed him so that he could say nothing. + +Mr Cupples turned and walked slowly away, with only the words: + +"Eh! bantam! bantam! The Lord hae pity upo' ye�-and me too!" + +He went out at the door bowed like an old man. + +"Preserve's, Mr Cupples! What ails ye?" exclaimed his landlady meeting +him in the passage. + +"The whusky's disagreed wi' me," he said. "It's verra ill-faured o' 't. +I'm sure I pay't ilka proper attention." + +Then he went down the stairs, murmuring-- + +"Rainbows! Rainbows! Naething for me but rainbows! God help the +laddie!" + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXII. + + +It may appear strange to some of my renders that Alec should fall into +this pit immediately upon the solemn warning of his friend. He had +listened to the story alone; he had never felt the warning: he had +never felt the danger. Had he not himself in his own hands? He was not +fond of whisky. He could take it or leave it. And so he took it; and +finding that there was some comfort in it, took it again and again, +seeking the society in which it was the vivifying element.--Need I +depict the fine gradations by which he sank--gradations though fine yet +so numerous that, in a space of time almost too brief for credit, the +bleared eye, the soiled garments, and the disordered hair, would reveal +how the night had been spent, and the clear-browed boy looked a sullen, +troubled, dissatisfied youth? The vice had laid hold of him like a +fast-wreathing, many-folded serpent. He had never had any conscious +religion. His life had never looked up to its source. All that was good +in him was good of itself, not of him. So it was easy to go down, with +grief staring at him over the edge of the pit. All return to the unific +rectitude of a manly life must be in the face of a scorching past and a +dank future--and those he could not face. + +And as his life thus ebbed away from him, his feelings towards +Beauchamp grew more and more bitter, approximating in character to +those of Beauchamp towards him. And he soon became resolved to have his +revenge on him, though it was long before he could make up his mind as +to what the revenge should be. + +Beauchamp avoided him constantly. + +And Mr Cupples was haunting him unseen. The strong-minded, wise-headed, +weak-willed little poet, wrapped in a coat of darkness, dogged the +footsteps of a great handsome, good-natured, ordinary-gifted wretch, +who _could_ never make him any return but affection, and had now +withdrawn all interchange of common friendship in order that he might +go the downward road unchecked. Cupples was driven almost distracted. +He drank harder than ever, but with less satisfaction than ever, for he +only grew the more miserable. He thought of writing to Alec's mother, +but, with the indecision of a drunkard, he could not make up his mind, +and pondered over every side of the question, till he was lost in a +maze of incapacity. + +Bad went to worse. Vice grew upon vice. + +There are facts in human life which human artists cannot touch. The +great Artist can weave them into the grand whole of his Picture, but to +the human eye they look too ugly and too painful. Even the man who can +do the deeds dares not represent them. Mothers have to know such facts +of their sons, and such facts of women like themselves. + +Alec had fallen amongst a set of men who would not be satisfied till he +should be as low as they--till there should be nothing left in him to +remind them that they had once been better. The circle in which he +began to drink had gradually contracted about him. The better sort had +fallen away, and the worse had remained--chiefly older men than he, men +who had come near to the enjoyment of vileness for its own sake, if +that be possible, and who certainly enjoyed making others like +themselves. Encouraged by their laughter and approbation, Alec began to +emulate them, and would soon have had very little to learn if things +had not _taken a turn_. A great hand is sometimes laid even on the +fly-wheel of life's engine. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXIII. + + +Andrew Constable, with his wife and old-fashioned child Isie, was +seated at tea in the little parlour opening from the shop, when he was +called out by a customer. He remained longer than was likely to be +accounted for by the transaction of business at that time of the day. +And when he returned his honest face looked troubled. + +"Wha was that?" asked his wife. + +"Ow! it was naebody but Jeames Johnston, wantin' a bit o' flannin for's +wife's coatie." + +"And what had he to say 'at keepit ye till yer tay's no fit to drink?" + +"Ow! my tay'll do weel eneuch. It's nae by ordinar' cauld." + +"But what said he?" + +"Weel! hm! hm!--He said it was fine frosty weather." + +"Ay, nae doobt! He kent that by the way the shuttle flew. Was that a'?" + +"Na, nae freely. But cogues hae lugs, and bairns hae muckle een." + +For Isie sat on her stool staring at her father and mother alternately, +and watching for the result of her mother's attempt at picking the lock +of her father's reticence. But the moment she heard the word _lugs_, +she knew that she had no chance, and her eyes grew less and their +pupils grew larger. Fearing he had hurt her, Andrew said, + +"Winna ye hae a starnie jam, Isie? It's grosert-jam." + +"Na, thank ye, daddie. Maybe it wad gie me a sair wame," answered the +solemn old-faced Scotchwoman of seven. + +A child who refuses jam lest it should serve her as the little book did +the Apostle John, might be considered prudent enough to be intrusted +with a secret. But not a word more was said on the subject, till Isie +was in bed, and supposed to be fast asleep, in a little room that +opened off the parlour. But she was not asleep. And the door was always +left open, that she might fall asleep in the presence of her parents. +Their words therefore flowed freely into her ears, although the meaning +only played on her mind with a dull glimmer like that which played on +her wall from the fire in the room where they sat talking. + +"Ay, woman," began Andrew, "it'll be sair news, this, to the lady ower +the watter." + +"Ye dinna mean Mistress Forbes, Anerew?" + +"'Deed I mean jist her." + +"Is't her son? Has he met wi' ony mischeef? What's happent till him? Is +he droont, or killt? The Lord preserve's! She'll dee o' 't." + +"Na, lass. It's a hantle waur nor a' that." + +The woodcuts in Fox's _Book of Martyrs_, of which three folio volumes +in black letter lay in the room whence the conversation flowed to +Isie's ears, rose in all their hideousuess before the mental vision of +the child. In no other way than as torture could she conceive of worse +than being killed. + +"Ye gar me grue," said Mrs Constable, with a shudder. + +"Ay, woman, ye ken little o' the wickedness o' great toons--hoo they +lie in wait at ilka corner, wi' their gins and their snares and their +pits that they howk to catch the unwary yowth," said Andrew, in +something of the pride of superior knowledge. + +From this elevation, however, he was presently pulled down in a rather +ignominious fashion by his more plain-spoken though not a whit more +honest wife. + +"Anerew, dinna ye mint (aim) at speikin' like a chapter o' the Proverbs +o' Solomon, the son o' Dawvid. Say straucht oot 'at thae coorse jawds +that hing aboot i' the gloamin' hae gotten a grip o' the bonnie lad. +Eh! but he'll fair ill; and the Lord hae mercy upo' him--and nane upo' +them!" + +"Hoot! hoot! lass; dinna speik wi' sic a venom. Ye ken wha says +_Vengeance is mine_?" + +"Ay, ay, weel eneuch. And I houp He'll tak's ain upo' sic brazen +hizzies. You men-fowk think ye ken a hantle o' things that ye wad haud +us ohn kent. But nane kens the wiles o' a wumman, least awa them 'at +fa's into them, but anither wumman." + +"It's nae savin' lore," said Andrew, a little troubled that his wife +should assert a familiar acquaintance with such things. But she went +on. + +"Women's jist dreidfu'. Whan ance they gang the ill gait, they're +neither to haud nor bin'. And to think o' them layin' han's upo' sic a +bonnie weel-behaved laddie as that Alec Forbes, a ceevil, herty cratur, +wi' a kin' word an' a joke even for the beggar 'at he geid a bawbee +till! Weel, he'll come oot o' their cluiks, maybe no that nmckle the +waur efter a', as mony a man frae King Dawvid doonwith afore him." + +"Noo, wumman!" said Andrew, in a tone of authority blended with rising +indignation; "ye're slidin' aff o' yer ain stule, and ye'll be upo' the +grun' afore ye win on to mine. Richt or wrang aboot the women, I bude +to ken mair aboot the men nor ye do; and I daur affirm and uphaud that +never man cam' oot o' the grip o' thae poor deluded craters--" + +Mrs Constable interposed with one single emphatic epithet, not +admittable to the ears of this generation; but Andrew resumed, and went +on. + +"--poor deluded craters, withoot losin' a great pairt o' what was left +in him o' the eemage o' God efter the fall. Woman, he tynes (loses) a +heap!" + +"Hoo sud ye ken onything aboot that, Anerew?" returned his wife +sharply. + +"The same way than ye ken sae weel aboot the she side o' the queston, +lass. We may jist enlichten ane anither a wee aboot some things, +mayhap." + +Meantime the ears of the little pitcher in bed had been growing longer +and longer with curious horror. The something in itself awfully vague +about Alec's fate was wrapt in yet deeper clouds of terror and mystery +by the discord of opinion with regard to it on the part of her father +and mother, whom she had rarely heard differ. She pictured to herself +the image of his Maker being scratched off Alec by the claws of furies; +and hot pincers tearing nail after nail from the hand which had once +given her a penny. And her astonishment was therefore paralyzing when +she heard her father say: + +"But ye maun haud a quaiet tongue i' yer heid, guidwife; for weel as ye +like the laddie, ye may blast his character gin ye say a word aboot +it." + +"I s' warran' it's a' ower Glamerton afore it comes to your lugs, +Anerew," returned her mother. "They're no that gleg efter sic news. But +I wad like sair to ken wha sent hame the word o' 't." + +"I'm thinking it's been young Bruce." + +"The Lord be praised for a lee!" exclaimed Mrs Constable. "Haena I +tell't ye afore noo, sae that it's no upmak to pick the lock o' the +occasion, Anerew, that Rob Bruce has a spite at that faimily for takin' +sic a heap o' notice o' Annie Annerson. And I wadna wonner gin he had +set's hert upo' merryin' her upo' 's ain Rob, and sae keepin' her bit +siller i' the faimily. Gin that be sae, he micht weel gie Alec Forbes a +back-handit cloot (blow)." + +"'Deed! maybe, gudewife. He's a burnin' and a shinin' licht amo' you +missioners, though; and ye maunna say ill o' 'm, for fear he has ye up +afore the kirk." + +"Ay, deed is he! He's a burnin' shame, and a stinkin' lamp; for the +grace o' God wasna hauden to the nib o' 'm lang eneuch to set him in a +low (flame), but only lang eneuch to gar the ile o' 'm reek fit to +scomfish (suffocate) a haill Sodom." + +"Hoot, lass! Ye're ower sair even upo' him. But it's verra true that +gin the story cam' frae that en' o' the toon, there's room for +rizzonable doobts. Sae we'll awa' to our beds, and houp things mayna be +sae far gane as the soun' o' them. Only I drede there's aye some water +whaur the stirkie droons." + +It was long before little Isie got to sleep, what with attempting to +realize the actual condition of Alec Forbes, and trying to excogitate +the best means for his deliverance. Why should not all Glamerton set +out in a body with flails and pitchforks? And if she must not meddle +for that, seeing her father had said the matter must not be mentioned, +yet his prohibition could not include Alec's mother, whom it would be +wicked to keep in ignorance. For what would Isie think if she was taken +prisoner by a cruel woman and they would not tell her mother? So she +fell asleep, to wake in the morning with the sense of a mission upon +her important little mind. + +What rendered it probable that the rumour came from "that end of the +town" was, that Bruce the younger was this year a bejan at Alec's +college, and besides was the only other scion of Glamerton there +grafted, so that any news about Alec other than he would care to send +himself, must in all likelihood have come through him.--For Bruce the +elder had determined that in his son he would restore the fallen +fortunes of the family, giving him such an education as would entitle +him to hold up his head with the best, and especially with that proud +upstart, Alec Forbes. + +The news had reached Thomas Crann, and filled him with concern. He had, +as was his custom in trouble, betaken himself straightway to "the +throne of grace," and "wrestled in prayer" with God that he would +restore the prodigal to his mother. What would Thomas have thought if +he had been told that his anxiety, genuine as it was, that his love, +true as it was, did not come near the love and anxiety of another man +who spent his evenings in drinking whisky and reading heathen poets, +and who, although he knew not a little of his Bible, never opened it +from one end of the year to the other? If he had been told that Cosmo +Cupples had more than once, after the first tumbler of toddy and before +the second, betaken himself to his prayers for his poor Alec Forbes, +and entreated God Almighty to do for him what he could not do, though +he would die for him--to rescue him from the fearful pit and the miry +clay of moral pollution--if he had heard this, he would have said that +it was a sad pity, but such prayers could not be answered, seeing he +that prayed was himself in the gall of bitterness and the bond of +iniquity. + +There was much shaking of the head amongst the old women. Many an +ejaculation and many a meditative _eh me_! were uttered over Alec's +fall; and many a word of tender pity for his poor mother floated forth +on the frosty air of Glamerton; but no one ventured to go and tell the +dreary tidings. The men left it to the women; and the woman knew too +well how the bearer of such ill news would appear in her eyes, to +venture upon the ungracious task. So they said to themselves she must +know it just as well as they did; or if she did not know, poor woman! +she would know time enough for all the good it would do her. And that +came of sending sons to colleges! &c., &c. + +But there was just one not so easily satisfied about the extent of her +duties: that was little Isie Constable. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXIV. + + +The tertians gave a supper at Luckie Cumstie's, and invited the +magistrands. On such an occasion Beauchamp, with his high sense of his +own social qualities, would not willingly be absent. When the hour +arrived, he took his place near the head of the table. + +After all the solid and a part of the liquid entertainment was over, +Alec rose in the space between two toasts, and said: + +"Mr Chairman and gentlemen, I propose, at my own proper cost, to +provide something for your amusement." + +Beauchamp and all stared at the speaker. + +"It is to be regretted," Alec went on, "that students have no court of +honour to which to appeal. This is the first opportunity I have had of +throwing myself on the generosity of my equals, and asking them to +listen to my story." + +The interest of the company was already roused. All the heads about the +long table leaned towards the speaker, and cries of _hear, hear_, arose +in all directions. Alec then gave a brief statement of the facts of the +encounter upon the bridge. This was the only part of his relations with +Beauchamp which he chose to bring before the public; for the greater +wrong of lying defamation involved his cousin's name. He told how +Beauchamp had sought the encounter by deliberate insult, had used a +weapon against an unarmed enemy, and then thrown him from the bridge. + +"Now," he concluded, "all I ask of you, gentlemen, is to allow me the +fair arena of your presence while I give this sneaking chieftain the +personal chastisement which he has so richly merited at my hands." + +Beauchamp had soon recovered his self-possession after the first +surprise of the attack. He sat drinking his toddy all the time Alec +spoke, and in the middle of his speech he mixed himself another +tumbler. When Alec sat down, he rose, glanced round the assembly, bent +his lip into its most scornful curves, and, in a clear, unwavering +voice, said: + +"Mr Chairman and gentlemen, I repel the accusation." + +Alec started to his feet in wrath. + +"Mr Forbes, sit down," bawled the chairman; and Alec obeyed, though +with evident reluctance. + +"I say the accusation is false," repeated Beauchamp. "I do not say that +Mr Forbes consciously invented the calumny in order to take away my +character: such an assertion would preclude its own credence. Nor do I +venture to affirm that he never was stabbed, or thrown into the river. +But I ask any gentleman who happens to be aware of Mr Forbes's +devotions at the shrine of Father Lyaeus, which is the more +likely--that a fellow-student should stab and throw him into the water, +or that, as he was reeling home at midnight, the treacherous divinity +of the bowl should have handed him over to the embrace of his brother +deity of the river. Why then should even his imagination fix upon me as +the source of the injury? Gentlemen, a foolish attachment to the +customs of a long line of ancestors has led me into what I find for the +first time to be a dangerous habit--that of wearing arms;--dangerous, I +mean, to myself; for now I am wounded with my own weapon. But the real +secret of the affair is--I am ashamed to say--jealousy. Mr Forbes knows +what I say to be true--that a lady whom he loves prefers me to him." + +"Don't bring her name in, you brute!" roared Alec, starting again to +his feet, "or I'll tear your tongue out." + +"You hear, gentlemen," said Beauchamp, and sat down. + +A murmur arose. Heads gathered into groups. No one stood up. Alec felt +with the deepest mortification that his adversary's coolness and his +own violence had turned the scale against him. This conviction, +conjoined with the embarrassment of not knowing how to say a word in +his own defence without taking some notice of the close of his +adversary's speech, fixed him to his seat. For he had not yet fallen so +low as to be capable of even alluding to the woman he loved in such an +assembly. He would rather abandon the field to his adversary. + +Probably not many seconds had passed, but his situation was becoming +intolerable, when a well-known voice rose clear above the confused +murmur; and glancing to the lower end of the room, he saw Cosmo Cupples +standing at the end of the table. + +"I ken weel eneuch, gentlemen," he said, "that I hae no richt to be +here. Ye a' ken me by the sicht o' the een. I'm a graduate o' this +university, and at present your humble servant the librarian. I intrude +for the sake o' justice, and I cast mysel' upo' your clemency for a +fair hearin'." + +This being accorded by general acclamation, + +"Gentlemen," he resumed, "I stan' afore ye wi' a sair hert. I hae +occupied the position o' tutor to Mr Forbes; for, as Sir Pheelip Sidney +says in a letter to his brither Rob, wha was efterwards Yerl o' +Leicester upo' the demise o' Robert Dudley, 'Ye may get wiser men nor +yersel' to converse wi' ye and instruck ye, in ane o' twa ways--by +muckle ootlay or muckle humility.' Noo, that laddie was ane o' the +finest naturs I ever cam' across, and his humility jist made it a +pleesur to tak' chairge o' 'm baith mentally and morally. That I had a +sair doon come whan he took to the drink, I am forced to confess. But I +aye thocht he was strauchtforet, notwithstandin' the whusky. I wasna +prepared for sic a doonfa' as this.--I maun jist confess, Mr Cheerman, +that I heard him throu' the crack o' the door-cheek. And he broucht sic +deevilich accusations--" + +"Mr Cupples!" cried Alec. + +"Haud yer tongue, Alec Forbes, and lat this company hear me. Ye +appealed to the company yersel' first o' a'.--I say hoo cud he bring +sic deevilich accusations against a gentleman o' sic birth and breedin' +and accomplishments as the Laird o' Chattachan!--Maybe the Laird wad +jist condescend to say whaur he was upo' the nicht in queston; for gin +we cud get the rampaugin' misguidit laddie ance fairly into the yard, +wi' the yetts steekit (gates closed), he wad see that leein' wadna +serve his turn." + +Alec was in chaotic confusion. Notwithstanding the hard words Mr +Cupples had used, he could ill believe that he had turned his enemy. He +had behaved very badly to Mr Cupples, but was Mr Cupples one to revenge +himself? + +Mr Cupples had paused with his eyes resting on Beauchamp. He, without +rising, replied carelessly: + +"Really, sir, I do not keep a register of my goings and comings. I +might have done so had I known its importance. I have not even been +informed when the occurrence is said to have taken place." + +"I can gie your memory a prod upo' the dates, sir. For I ken weel the +nicht whan Alec Forbes cam' hame wi' a lang and a deep cut upo' the +ootside o' 's left airm atween the shouther an' the elbuck. I may weel +remember 't to my grief; for though he cam' hame as sober as he was +drippin' weet--I hae oor guidwife's testimony to that--he gaed oot +again, and whan he cam' hame ance mair, he was the waur o' drink for +the first time sin' ever I kent him. Noo, sir, it a' took place the +same day that ye cam' to the leebrary, and tuik awa' wi' ye a novell +ca'd _Aiken Drum_. I tauld ye it wad ill repay ye, for it was but a +fule thing. And I remember 't the better that I was expeckin' Alec +Forbes in ilka minute, and I was feared for a collieshangie (outbreak) +atween ye." + +"I remember all about that night perfectly, now you call it to my +recollection. I went straight home, and did not go out again--I was so +taken up with _Aiken Drum_." + +"I tell't ye sae!" cried Cupples, triumphantly. "Wha wadna tak' the +word o' The MacChattachan? There's sma' profit in addin' my testimony +to the weight o' that; but I wad jist like to tell this company, Mr +Cheerman and gentlemen, hoo I cam' to ken mair aboot the affair nor my +frien' Alec Forbes is awar' o'. That same efternoon, I expeckit him i' +the leebrary as I hae said, and whan he didna come, I took my hat--that +was about a half-hoor efter the laird left me--and gaed oot to luik for +him. I gaed ower the links; for my man had the profitless habit at that +time, whilk he's gien up for a mair profitless still, o' stravaguin' +aboot upo' the seashore, wi' 's han's in 's pooches, and his chin +reposin' upo' the third button o' 's waistcoat--all which bears hard +upo' what the laird says aboot's jealousy. The mune was jist risin' by +the time I wan to the shore, but I saw no sign o' man or woman alang +that dreary coast. I was jist turnin' to come hame again, whan I cam' +upo' tracks i' the weet san'. And I kent the prent o' the fit, and I +followed it on to the links again, and sae I gaed back at my leisure. +And it was sic a bonny nicht, though the mune wasna that far up, +drivin' lang shaidows afore her, that I thocht I wad jist gang ance +ower the brig and back again, and syne maybe turn into Luckie Cumstie's +here. But afore I wan to the brig, whan I was i' the shaidow o' Baillie +Bapp's hoose, I heard sic a scushlin' and a shochlin' upo' the brig! +and I saw something gang reelin' aboot; and afore I cud gaither my wits +and rin foret, I heard an awfu' splash i' the water; and by gangs +somebody wi' lang quaiet strides, and never saw me. He had on the kilts +and the lave o' the fandangles. And he turned into the quadrangle, and +throu't he gaed and oot at the corner o' 't. I was close ahint +him--that is, I was into the quadrangle afore he was oot o' 't. And I +saw the sacrist come oot at the door o' the astronomical tooer jist +afore the Hielanman turned the neuk o' 't. And I said to Thomson, says +I, 'Wha was that gaed by ye, and oot the back gait?' And says he, 'It +was Maister Beauchamp.' 'Are ye sure o' that?' says I. 'As sure's +deith,' says he. Ye ken William's phrase, gentlemen." + +Beauchamp's nonchalance had disappeared for some time. When his own +name came out, his cheeks grew deathly pale, and thin from the falling +of his jaw. Cupples, watching him, went on. + +"As sune's I was sure o' my man, I saw what a damned idiot I was to rin +efter him. And back I flew to the brig. I kent full weel wha the ither +man bude to be. It could be nane but my ain Alec Forbes; for I sweir to +ye, gentlemen, I hae watched The MacChattachan watchin' Alec Forbes +mair nor twa or three times sin' Alec throosh him for bein' foul-mou'd +i' the face o' the deid." + +By this time Beauchamp, having swallowed the rest of his tumbler at a +gulp, had recovered a little. He rose with defiance on his face. + +"Dinna lat him gang, gentlemen," cried Cupples, "till I tell ye ae +ither God's trowth.--I ran back to the brig, as hard's my legs cud +carry me, consolin' mysel' wi' the reflection that gin Alec had na been +sair hurtit i' the scuffle, there was no fear o' him. For I heard him +fa' clean into the water, and I kent ye micht as sune droon a herrin as +Alec Forbes. I ran richt to the mids' o' the brig and there was the +black heid o' him bobbin' awa' doon the water i' the hert o' the +munelicht. I'm terrible lang-sichtit, gentlemen. I canna sweir that I +saw the face o' 'm, seein' the back o' 's heid was to me; but that it +was Alec Forbes, I hae no more doobt than o' my ain existence. I was +jist turnin', nearhan' the greetin', for I lo'ed the laddie weel, whan +I saw something glintin' bonnie upo' the parapet o' the brig. And noo I +beg to restore't till'ts richtful owner. Wad ye pass't up the table, +gentlemen. Some o' ye will recogneeze't as ane o' the laird's bonnie +cairngorum-buttons." + +Handing the button to the man nearest him, Mr Cupples withdrew into a +corner, and leaned his back against the wall. The button made many a +zigzag from side to side of the table, but Beauchamp saw the yellow +gleam of it coming nearer and nearer. It seemed to fascinate him. At +last bursting the bonds of dismay, the blood rushed into his pale face, +and he again moved to go: + +"A conspiracy, gentlemen!" he cried. "You are all against me. I will +not trouble you longer with my presence. I will bide my time." + +"Stop a moment, Mr Beauchamp," said the chairman-�the pale-faced son of +a burly ploughman�-rising. "Your departure will scarcely satisfy us +now. Gentlemen, form yourselves in a double row, and grace the exit of +a disgrace. I leave it to yourselves to kick him or not as you may +think proper. But I think myself the way is to be merciful to the +confounded. Better leave him to his own conscience." + +Beauchamp's hand, following its foolish habit, fell upon the hilt of +his dirk. + +"Draw that dirk one inch," said the chairman hastily, clenching his +fist, "and I'll have you thrown on Luckie Cumstie's midden." + +Beauchamp's hand dropped. The men formed as directed. + +"Now," said the chairman sternly. + +And Beauchamp without a word marched down the long avenue white as a +ghost, and looking at nobody. Each made him a low bow as he passed, +except the wag of the tertians, who turned his back on him and bowed to +the universe in general. Mr Cupples was next the door, and bowed him +out. Alec alone stood erect. He could not insult him. + +Beauchamp's feelings I do not care to analyze. As he passes from that +room, he passes from my history.�-I do not think a man with such an +unfavourable start, could arrive at the goal of repentance in this +life. + +"Mr Cupples," cried the chairman, "will you oblige us by spending the +rest of the evening with us?" + +"You do me mair honour nor I deserve, sir," replied Mr Cupples; "but +that villain Alec Forbes has cost me sae muckle in drink to haud my +hert up, that I winna drink in his company. I micht tak' ower muckle +and disgrace mysel' forbye. Good nicht to ye a', gentlemen, and my best +thanks." + +So saying, Mr Cupples left the room before Alec could get near him with +a word or a sign of gratitude. But sorry and ashamed as he was, his +spirits soon returned. Congratulation restored him to his worse self; +and ere long he felt that he had deserved well of the community. The +hostess turned him out with the last few at midnight, for one of the +professors was provost; and he went homewards with another student, who +also lived in the new town. + +The two, however, not having had enough of revelry yet, turned aside +into a lane, and thence up a court leading to a low public-house, which +had a second and worse reputation. Into this Alec's companion went. +Alec followed. But he was suddenly seized in the dark, and ejected with +violence. Recovering himself from his backward stagger into the court, +he raised his arm to strike. Before him stood a little man, who had +apparently followed him out of the public-house. His hands were in the +pockets of his trowsers, and the wind was blowing about the tails of +his old dress-coat. + +Nor was Alec too far gone to recognize him. + +"You, Mr Cupples!" he exclaimed. "I didna expect to see you here." + +"I never was across the door-sill o' sic a place afore," said Mr +Cupples, "nor, please God, will either you or me ever cross sic a +door-sill again." + +"Hooly, hooly, Mr Cupples! Speak for ane at a time. I'm gaein in this +minute. Luckie Cumstie turned on the caller air ower sune for me." + +"Man!" said Cupples, laying hold of Alec's coat, "think that ye hae a +mither. Ilka word that ye hear frae a worthless woman is an affront to +yer mither." + +"Dinna stan' preachin' to me. I'm past that." + +"Alec, ye'll wiss to God ye hadna, whan ye come to marry a bonnie +wife." + +It was a true but ill-timed argument. Alec flared up wildly. + +"Wife!" he cried, "there's no wife for me. Haud oot o' my gait. Dinna +ye see I hae been drinkin'? And I winna be contred." + +"Drinkin'!" exclaimed Mr Cupples. "Little ye ken aboot drinkin'. I hae +drunken three times as muckle as you. And gin that be ony argument for +me haudin' oot o' your gait, it's mair argument yet for you to haud oot +o' mine. I sweir to God I winna stan' this ony langer. Ye're to come +hame wi' me frae this mou' o' hell and ugsome (frightful) deith. It +gangs straucht to the everlastin' burnin's. Eh, man! to think nae mair +o' women nor _that_!" + +And the brave little man placed himself right between Alec and the +door, which now opened half-way, showing several peering and laughing +faces. + +But the opposition of Mr Cupples had increased the action of the +alcohol upon Alec's brain, and he blazed up in a fury at the notion of +being made a laughter to the women. He took one step towards Mr +Cupples, who had restored his hands to his pockets and backed a few +paces towards the door of the house, to guard against Alec's passing +him. + +"Haud oot o' my gait, or I'll gar ye," he said fiercely. + +"I will not," answered Mr Cupples, and lay senseless on the stones of +the court. + +Alec strode into the house, and the door closed behind him. + +By slow degrees Mr Cupples came to himself. He was half dead with cold, +and his head was aching frightfully. A pool of blood lay on the stones +already frozen. He crawled on his hands and knees, till he reached a +wall, by which he raised and steadied himself. Feeling along this wall, +he got into the street; but he was so confused and benumbed that if a +watchman had not come up, he would have died on some doorstep. The man +knew him and got him home. He allowed both him and his landlady to +suppose that his condition was the consequence of drink; and so was +helped up to his garret and put to bed. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXV. + + +All the night during which Isie Constable lay dreaming of racks, +pincers, screws, and Alec Forbes, the snow was busy falling outside, +shrouding the world once more; so that next day the child could not get +out upon any pretence. Had she succeeded in escaping from the house, +she might have been lost in the snow, or drowned in the Glamour, over +which there was as yet only a rude temporary bridge to supply the place +of that which had been swept away. But although very uneasy at the +obstruction of her projects, she took good care to keep her own +counsel.�-The snow was very obstinate to go. At length, after many +days, she was allowed to go out with stockings over her shoes, and play +in the garden. No sooner was she alone, than she darted out of the +garden by the back-gate, and before her mother missed her, was crossing +the Glamour. She had never been so far alone, and felt frightened; but +she pushed bravely forward. + +Mrs Forbes and Annie Anderson were sitting together when Mary put her +head in at the door and told her mistress that the daughter of Mr +Constable, the clothier, wanted to see her. + +"Why, she's a mere infant, Mary!" exclaimed Mrs Forbes. + +"'Deed is she, mem; but she's nane the less doon the stair i' the +kitchie. Ye wad hae seen her come yersel' but she's ower wee. Ye cudna +get a glimp o' her ower the edge o' the snaw i' the cuttin' doon to the +yett. Hoo her fowk cud lat her oot! She's a puir wee white-faced elf o' +a crater, but she's byous auld-farrand and wise-like, and naething will +do but she maun see yersel', mem." + +"Bring her up, Mary. Poor little thing! What can she want?" + +Presently Isie entered the room, looking timidly about her. + +"Well, my dear, what do you want?" + +"It's aboot Alec, mem," said Isie, glancing towards Annie. + +"Well, what about him?" asked Mrs Forbes, considerably bewildered, but +not fearing bad news from the mouth of such a messenger. + +"Hae ye heard naething aboot him, mem?" + +"Nothing particular. I haven't heard from him for a fortnight." + +"That's easy accoontit for, mem." + +"What do you mean, my dear? Speak out." + +"Weel, mem, the way I heard it was raither particlar, and I wadna like +a'body to ken." + +Here she glanced again at Annie. + +"You needn't be afraid of Annie Anderson," said Mrs Forbes smiling. +"What is it?" + +"Weel, mem, I didna richtly ken. But they hae ta'en him intil a +dreidfu' place, and whether they hae left a haill inch o' skin upon's +body, is mair nor I can tell; but they hae rackit him, and pu'd o' 's +nails aff, maybe them a', and�-" + +"Good heavens!" exclaimed Mrs Forbes, with a most unusual inclination +to hysterics, seeing something terrible peep from behind the grotesque +report of Isie, "what _do_ you mean, child?" + +"I'm tellin' ye't as I heard it, mem. I houp they haena brunt him yet. +Ye maun gang and tak' him oot o' their han's." + +"Whose hands, child? Who's doing all this to him?" + +"They stan' aboot the corners o' the streets, mem, in muckle toons, and +they catch a haud o' young laads, and they trail them awa' wi' them, +and they jist torment the life oot o' them. They say they're women; but +I dinna believe that. It's no possible. They maun be men dressed up in +women's claes." + +Was it a great relief to the mother's heart to find that the childish +understanding of Isie had misinterpreted and misrepresented? She rose +and left the room, and her troubled step went to and fro overhead. And +the spirit of Annie was troubled likewise. How much she understood, I +cannot determine; but I believe that a sense of vague horror and pity +overwhelmed her heart. Yet the strength of her kindness forced her to +pay some attention to the innocent little messenger of evil. + +"Whaur heard ye a' that, Isie, dear?" + +"I heard my father and my mither gaein' on lamentin' ower him efter I +was i' my bed, and they thocht I was asleep. But gin Mistress Forbes +winna tak' him awa', I'll gang and tell a' the ministers in Glamerton, +and see whether they winna raise the toon." + +Annie stared in amazement at the wee blue-eyed wizened creature before +her speaking with the decision of a minor prophet. + +"Is the child here still?" said Mrs Forbes with some asperity as she +re-entered the room. "I must go by the mail this afternoon, Annie." + +"That's richt, mem," said Isie. "The suner the better, I'm sure. He +mayna be deid yet." + +"What a very odd child!" said Mrs Forbes. + +"Wouldn't it be better to write first, ma'am?" suggested Annie. + +Before Mrs Forbes could reply, the white mutch of Mrs Constable +appeared over the top of the snow that walled the path. She was in hot +pursuit of her child, whose footsteps she had traced. When shown into +the dining-room, she rushed up to her, and caught her to her bosom, +crying, + +"Ye ill-contrived smatchit! What hae ye been aboot, rinnin' awa' this +gait? I wonner ye wasna droont i' the Glamour." + +"I don't see what better you could expect of your own child, Mrs +Constable, if you go spreading reports against other people's +children," said Mrs Forbes bitterly. + +"It's a lee whaever said sae," retorted Mrs Constable fiercely. "Wha +tell't ye that?" + +"Where else could your child have heard such reports, then?" + +"Isie! Isie! My poor wee bairn! What hae ye been aboot to tak' awa' yer +mither's gude name?" + +And she hugged the child closer yet. + +Isie hung down her head, and began to have dim perceptions that she +might have been doing mischief with the best possible intentions. + +"I only tell't Mistress Forbes hoo ill they war to Alec." + +After a moment's reflection, Mrs Constable turned with a subdued manner +to Mrs Forbes. + +"The bairn's a curious bairn, mem," she said. "And she's owerheard her +father and me speakin' thegither as gin't had been only ae body +thinkin'. For gin ever twa was ane, that twa and that ane is Andrew +Constable and mysel'." + +"But what right had you to talk about my son?" + +"Weel, mem, that queston gangs raither far. What's already procleemed +frae the hoose-taps may surely be spoken i' the ear in closets-�for oor +back-room is but a closet. Gin ye think that fowk'll haud their tongues +about your bairn mair nor ony ither body's bairn ye're mista'en, mem. +But never ane heard o' 't frae me, and I can tak' my bodily aith for my +man, for he's jist by ordinar' for haudin' his tongue. I cud hardly +worm it oot o' 'm mysel'." + +Mrs Forbes saw that she had been too hasty. + +"What does it all mean, Mrs Constable?" she said, "for I am quite +ignorant." + +"Ye may weel be that, mem. And maybe there's no a word o' trouth i' the +story, for I'm doobtin' the win' that brocht it blew frae an ill airt." + +"I really don't understand you, Mrs Constable. What do they say about +him?" + +"Ow, jist that he's consortin' wi' the warst o' ill company, mem. But +as I said to Anerew, maybe he'll come oot o' their cluiks no that +muckle the waur, efter a'." + +Mrs Forbes sank on the sofa, and hid her face in her hands. Annie +turned white as death, and left the room. When Mrs Forbes lifted her +head, Mrs Constable and her strange child had vanished. + +Mrs Forbes and Annie wept together bitterly, in the shadow of death +which the loved one cast upon them across the white plains and hills. +Then the mother sat down and wrote, begging him to deny the terrible +charge; after which they both felt easier. But when the return of post +had brought no reply, and the next day was likewise barren of tidings, +Mrs Forbes resolved to go to the hateful city at once. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXVI. + + +When Alec woke in the morning, it rushed upon his mind that he had had +a terrible dream; and he reproached himself that even in a dream he +should be capable of striking to the earth the friend who had just +saved him from disgrace, and wanted to save him from more. But as his +headache began to yield to cold water, discomposing doubts rose upon +his clearing mental horizon. They were absurd, but still they were +unpleasant. It _could_ be only a dream that he had felled the man twice +his age, and half his size, who had once shed his blood for him. But +why did it look so like fact, if it was only a dream? Horrible thought! +Could it?-�It could�-It must be�-It was a fact! + +Haggard with horror as well as revelry, he rushed towards the stair, +but was met by Mrs Leslie, who stopped him and said: + +"Mr Forbes, gin you and Mr Cupples gang on at this rate, I'll be forced +to gie ye baith warnin' to flit. I oucht to hae written to yer mither +afore noo. Ye'll brack her hert or a' be dune. Eh! it's a sair thing +whan young lads tak to drink, and turn reprobates in a jiffie +(moment)." + +"I dinna gang to your kirk, and ye needna preach to me. What's the +maitter wi' Mr Cupples? He hasna ta'en to drink in a jiffie, has he?" + +"Ye scorner! He cam hame last nicht bleedin' at the heid, and i' the +han's o' the watchman. Puir man! he cud hardly win up the stair. I +canna think hoo he cam' to fa' sae sair; for they say there's a special +Providence watches ower drunk men and bairns. He was an awfu' sicht, +honest man! A terrible mixter o' reid and white." + +"What said he about it?" asked Alec, trembling. + +"Ow, naething. He had naething till say. Ye maunna gang near him; for I +left him fest asleep. Gang awa benn to yer ain room, and I'll be in wi' +yer brakfast in ten minutes. Eh! but ye wad be a fine lad gin ye wad +only gie up the drink and the ill company." + +Alec obeyed, ashamed and full of remorse. The only thing he could do +was to attend to Mr Cupples's business in the library, where he worked +at the catalogue till the afternoon lecture was over. + +Nobody had seen Beauchamp, and the blinds of Kate's windows were drawn +down. + +All day his heart was full of Mr Cupples; and as he went home he +recalled everything with perfect distinctness, and felt that his +conduct had been as vile as it was possible for conduct to be. Because +a girl could not love him, he had ceased to love his mother, had given +himself up to Satan, and had returned the devotion of his friend with a +murderous blow. Because he could not have a bed of roses, he had thrown +himself down in the pig-stye. He rushed into a public-house, and +swallowed two glasses of whisky. That done, he went straight home, and +ran up to Mr Cupples's room. + +Mr Cupples was sitting before the fire, with his hands on his knees and +his head bound in white, bloodstained. He turned a ghastly face, and +tried to smile. Alec's heart gave way utterly. He knelt at Mr Cupples's +feet, laid his head on his knee, and burst into very unsaxon but most +gracious tears. Mr Cupples laid a small trembling hand on the boy's +head, saying, + +"Eh! bantam, bantam!" and could say no more. + +"Mr Cupples," sobbed Alec, "forgive me. I'll cut my throat, gin ye +like." + +"Ye wad do better to cut the deevil's throat." + +"Hoo could I do that? Tell me, and I'll do 't." + +"Wi' the broken whisky-bottle, man. That's at the root o' a' the +mischeef. It's no you. It's the drink. And eh! Alec, we micht be richt +happy thegither efter that. I wad mak a scholar o' ye." + +"Weel, Mr Cupples, ye hae a richt to demand o' me what ye like; for +henceforth ye hae the pooer o' life or deith ower me. But gin I try to +brak throu the drinkin', I maun haud oot ower frae the smell o' 't; an' +I doobt," added Alec slyly, "ye wadna hae the chance o' makin' muckle +o' a scholar o' me in that case." + +And now the dark roots of thought and feeling blossomed into the fair +flower of resolution. + +"Bantam," said Mr Cupples solemnly, "I sweir to God, gin ye'll gie ower +the drink and the lave o' yer ill gaits, I'll gie ower the drink as +weel. I hae naething ither to gie ower. But that winna be easy," he +added with a sigh, stretching his hand towards his glass. + +From a sudden influx of energy, Alec stretched his hand likewise +towards the same glass, and laying hold on it as Mr Cupples was raising +it to his lips, cried: + +"I sweir to God likewise--And noo," he added, leaving his hold of the +glass, "ye daurna drink it." + +Mr Cupples threw glass and all into the fire. + +"That's my fareweel libation to the infernal Bacchus," he said. "Lat it +gang to swall the low o' Phlegethon. But eh! it's a terrible +undertakin'. It's mair nor Hercules himsel' could hae made onything o'. +Bantam! I hae saicrifeesed mysel' to you. Haud to your pairt, or I +canna haud to mine." + +It was indeed a terrible undertaking. I doubt whether either of them +would have had courage for it, had he not been under those same +exciting influences�-which, undermining all power of manly action, yet +give for the moment a certain amount of energy to expend. But the +limits are narrow within which, by wasting his capital, a man secures a +supply of pocket-money. And for them the tug of war was to come. + +They sat on opposite sides of the table and stared at each other. As +the spirituous tide ebbed from the brain, more and more painful visions +of the near future steamed up. Yet even already conscience began to +sustain them. Her wine was strong, and they were so little used to it +that it even excited them. + +With Alec the struggle would soon be over. His nervous system would +speedily recover its healthy operations. But Cupples�-from whose veins +alcohol had expelled the blood, whose skull was a Circean cup of +hurtful spells�-would not delirium follow for him? + +Suddenly Alec laid his hand on the bottle. Mr Cupples trembled. Was he +going to break his vow already? + +"Wadna't be better to fling this into the neist yard, Mr Cupples?" said +Alec. "We daurna fling 't i' the fire. It wad set the chimley in a +low (flame)." + +"Na, na. Lat ye 't sit," returned Mr Cupples. + +"I wad be clean affrontit gin I cudna see and forbear. Ye may jist pit +it into the press though. A body needna lay burdens grievous to be +borne upo' himsel' mair nor upo' ither fowk. Noo, lat's hae a game o' +cribbage, to haud's ohn thocht aboot it." + +They played two or three games. It was pathetic to see how Mr Cupples's +right hand, while he looked at the cards in his left, would go blindly +flitting about the spot where his glass had always used to stand; and +how, when he looked up unable to find it, his face shadowed over with +disappointment. After those two or three games, he threw down the +cards, saying, + +"It winna do, bantam. I dinna like the cairts the nicht. Wi'oot ony +thing to weet them, they're dooms dry. What say ye to a chorus o' +�schylus?" + +Alec's habits of study had been quite broken up of late. Even the +medical lectures and the hospital classes had been neglected. So +�schylus could not be much of a consolatory amusement in the blank +which follows all exorcism. But Cupples felt that if no good spirit +came into the empty house, sweeping and garnishing would only entice +the seven to take the place of the one. So he tried to interest his +pupil once again in his old studies; and by frequent changes did ere +long succeed in holding tedium at bay. + +But all his efforts would have resulted in nothing but that vain +sweeping and garnishing, had not both their hearts been already +tenanted by one good and strong spirit�-essential life and humanity. +That spirit was Love, which at the long last will expel whatsoever +opposeth itself. While Alec felt that he must do everything to please +Mr Cupples, he, on his part, felt that all the future of the youth lay +in his hands. He forgot the pangs of alcoholic desire in his fear lest +Alec should not be able to endure the tedium of abstinence; and Alec's +gratitude and remorse made him humble as a slave to the little +big-hearted man whom he had injured so cruelly. + +"I'm tired and maun gang to my bed, for I hae a sair heid," said Mr +Cupples, that first night. + +"That's my doin'!" said Alec, sorrowfully. + +"Gin this new repentance o' yours and mine turns oot to hae onything +in't, we'll baith hae rizzon to be thankfu' that ye cloured (dinted) my +skull, Alec. But eh me! I'm feared I winna sleep muckle the nicht." + +"Wad ye like me to sit up wi' ye?" asked Alec. "I cud sleep i' your +cheir weel eneuch." + +"Na, na. We hae baith need to say oor prayers, and we cudna do that +weel thegither. Gang ye awa' to yer bed, and min' yer vow to God and to +me. And dinna forget yer prayers, Alec." + +Neither of them forgot his prayers. Alec slept soundly--Mr Cupples not +at all. + +"I think," he said, when Alec appeared in the morning, "I winna tak sic +a hardship upo' me anither nicht. Jist open the cat's door and fling +the bottle into somebody's yard. I houp it winna cut onybody's feet." + +Alec flew to the cupboard, and dragged out the demon. + +"Noo," said Mr Cupples, "open the twa doors wide, and fling 't wi' a +birr, that I may hear its last speech and dyin' declaration." + +Alec did as he was desired, and the bottle fell on the stones of a +little court. The clash rose to the ears of Mr Cupples. + +"Thank God!" he said with a sigh.--"Alec, no man that hasna gane throu +the same, can tell what I hae gane throu this past nicht, wi' that +deevil i' the press there cryin' 'Come pree (taste) me! come pree me!' +But I heard and hearkened not. And yet whiles i' the nicht, although +I'm sure I didna sleep a wink, I thocht I was fumblin' awa' at the lock +o' the press an' cudna get it opened. And the press was a coffin set up +upo' its en', an' I kent that there was a corp inside it, and yet I +tried sair to open't. An' syne again, I thocht it was the gate o' +Paradees afore which stud the angel wi' the flamin' sword that turned +ilka gait, and wadna lat me in. But I'm some better sin the licht cam, +and I wad fain hae a drappy o' that fine caller tipple they ca' +watter." + +Alec ran down and brought it cold from the pump, saying, as Mr Cupples +returned the tumbler with a look of thanks, + +"But there's the tappit hen. I doot gin we lea' her i' the press, +she'll be wantin' to lay." + +"Na, na, nae fear o' that. She's as toom's a cock. Gang and luik. The +last drap in her wame flaw oot at the window i' that bottle. Eh! Alec, +but I'll hae a sair day, and ye maun be true to me. Gie me my Homer, or +I'll never win throu't. An ye may lay John Milton within my rax +(reach); for I winna pit my leg oot o' the blankets till ye come hame. +Sae ye maunna be langer nor ye can help." + +Alec promised, and set off with a light heart. + +Beauchamp was at none of the classes. And the blinds of Kate's windows +were still drawn down. + +For a whole week he came home as early as possible and spent the rest +of the day with Mr Cupples. But many dreary hours passed over them +both. The suffering of Mr Cupples and the struggle which he had to +sustain with the constant craving of his whole being, are perhaps +indescribable; but true to his vow and to his friend, he endured +manfully. Still it was with a rueful-comical look and a sigh, +sometimes, that he would sit down to his tea, remarking, + +"Eh, man! this is meeserable stuff�-awfu' weyk tipple�-a pagan +invention a'thegither." + +But the tea comforted the poor half-scorched, half-sodden nerves +notwithstanding, and by slow degrees they began to gather tone and +strength; his appetite improved; and at the end of the week he resumed +his duties in the library. And thenceforth, as soon as his classes were +over, Alec would go to the library to Mr Cupples, or on other days Mr +Cupples would linger near the medical school or hospital, till Alec +came out, and then they would go home together. Once home, both found +enough to do in getting one of them up to the mark of the approaching +examinations.--Two pale-faced creatures they sat there, in Mr Cupples's +garret, looking wretched and subdued enough, although occasionally they +broke out laughing, as the sparks of life revived and flickered into +merriment. + +Inquiring after Miss Fraser, Alec learned that she was ill. The maid +inquired in return if he knew anything about Mr Beauchamp. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXVII. + + +Mr Cupples and Alec were hard at work�-the table covered with books and +papers; when a knock came to the door�-the rarest occurrence in that +skyey region�-and the landlady ushered in Mrs Forbes. + +The two men sprang to their feet, and Mrs Forbes stared with gratified +amazement. The place was crowded with signs of intellectual labour, and +not even a pack of cards was visible. + +"Why didn't you answer my last letter, Alec?" she said. + +It had dropped behind some books, and he had never seen it. + +"What is the meaning, then, of such reports about you?" she resumed, +venturing to put the question in the presence of Mr Cupples in the hope +of a corroborated refutation. + +Alec looked confused, grew red, and was silent. Mr Cupples took up the +reply. + +"Ye see, mem, it's a pairt o' the edication o' the human individual, +frae the time o' Adam and Eve doonwith, to learn to refuse the evil and +chowse the guid. This doesna aye come o' eatin' butter and honey, but +whiles o' eatin' aise (ashes) and dirt. Noo, my pupil, here, mem, your +son, has eaten that dirt and made that chice. And I'll be caution +(security) for him that he'll never mair return to wallow i' that mire. +It's three weeks, mem, sin ae drop o' whusky has passed his mou." + +"Whisky!" exclaimed the mother. "Alec! Is it possible?" + +"Mem, mem! It wad become ye better to fa' doon upo' yer knees and thank +the God that's brocht him oot o' a fearfu' pit and oot o' the miry clay +and set his feet upon a rock. But the rock's some sma' i' the fit-haud, +and ae word micht jist caw him aff o' 't again. Gin ye fa' to +upbraidin' o' 'm, ye may gar him clean forget's washin'." + +But Mrs Forbes was proud, and did not like interference between her and +her son. Had she found things as bad as she had expected, she would +have been humble. Now that her fears had abated, her natural pride had +returned. + +"Take me to your own room, Alec," she said. + +"Ay, ay, mem. Tak' him wi' ye. But caw cannie, ye ken, or ye'll gie me +a deevil o' a job wi' 'm." + +With a smile to Cupples, Alec led the way. + +He would have told his mother almost everything if she had been genial. +As she was, he contented himself with a general confession that he had +been behaving very badly, and would have grown ten times worse but for +Mr Cupples, who was the best friend that he had on earth. + +"Better than your mother, Alec?" she asked, jealously. + +"I was no kith or kin of his, and yet he loved me," said Alec. + +"He ought to have behaved more like a gentleman to me." + +"Mother, you don't understand Mr Cupples. He's a strange creature. He +takes a pride in speaking the broadest Scotch, when he could talk to +you in more languages than you ever heard of, if he liked." + +"I don't think he's fit company for you anyhow. We'll change the +subject, if you please." + +So Alec was yet more annoyed, and the intercourse between mother and +son was forced and uncomfortable. As soon as she retired to rest, Alec +bounded up stairs again. + +"Never mind my mother," he cried. "She's a good woman, but she's vexed +with me, and lets it out on you." + +"Mind her!" answered Mr Cupples; "she's a verra fine woman; and she may +say what she likes to me. She'll be a' richt the morn's mornin'. A +woman wi' ae son's like a coo wi' ae horn, some kittle (ticklish), ye +ken. I cud see in her een haill coal-pits o' affection. She wad dee for +ye, afore ye cud say-�'Dinna, mither.'" + +Next day they went to call on Professor Fraser. He received them +kindly, and thanked Mrs Forbes for her attentions to his niece. But he +seemed oppressed and troubled. His niece was far from well, he +said�-had not left her room for some weeks, and could see no one. + +Mrs Forbes associated Alec's conduct with Kate's illness, but said +nothing about her suspicions. After one day more, she returned home, +reassured by but not satisfied with her visit. She felt that Alec had +outgrown his former relation to her, and had a dim perception that her +pride had prevented them from entering upon a yet closer relation. It +is their own fault when mothers lose by the _growth_ of their children. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXVIII. + + +Meantime, Annie was passing through a strange experience. It gave her a +dreadful shock to know that such things were reported of her hero, her +champion. They could not be true, else Chaos was come again. But when +no exultant denial of them arrived from the pen of his mother, although +she wrote as she had promised, then she understood by degrees that the +youth had erred from the path, and had denied the Lord that bought him. +She brooded and fancied and recoiled till the thought of him became so +painful that she turned from it, rather than from him, with discomfort +amounting almost to disgust. He had been to her the centre of all that +was noble and true. And he revelled in company of which she knew +nothing except from far-off hints of unapproachable pollution! Her idol +all of silver hue was blackened with the breath of sulphur, and the +world was overspread with the darkness which radiated from it. + +In this mood she went to the week-evening service at Mr Turnbull's +chapel. There she sat listless, looking for no help, and caring for +none of the hymns or prayers. At length Mr Turnbull began to read the +story of the Prodigal Son. And during the reading her distress vanished +like snow in the sunshine. For she took for her own the character of +the elder brother, prayed for forgiveness, and came away loving Alec +Forbes more than ever she had loved him before. If God could love the +Prodigal, might she not, ought she not to love him too?�-The deepest +source of her misery, though she did not know that it was, had been the +fading of her love to him. + +And as she walked home through the dark, the story grew into other +comfort. A prodigal might see the face of God, then! He was no grand +monarch, but a homely father. He would receive her one day, and let her +look in his face. + +Nor did the trouble return any more. From that one moment, no feeling +of repugnance ever mingled with her thought of Alec. For such a one as +he could not help repenting, she said. He would be sure to rise and go +back to his Father. She would not have found it hard to believe even, +that, come early, or linger late, no swine-keeping son of the Father +will be able to help repenting at last; that no God-born soul will be +able to go on trying to satisfy himself with the husks that the swine +eat, or to refrain from thinking of his Father's house, and wishing +himself within its walls even in the meanest place; or that such a wish +is prelude to the best robe and the ring and the fatted calf, when the +Father would spend himself in joyous obliteration of his son's past and +its misery�-having got him back his very own, and better than when he +went, because more humble and more loving. + +When Mrs Forbes came home, she entered into no detail, and was +disinclined to talk about the matter at all, probably as much from +dissatisfaction with herself as with her son, But Annie's heart +blossomed into a quiet delight when she learned that the facts were not +so bad as the reports, and that there was no doubt he would yet live +them all down. + +The evil time was drawing nigh, ushered by gentler gales and snowdrops, +when she must be turned out for the spring and summer. She would feel +it more than ever, but less than if her aunt had not explained to her +that she had a right to the shelter afforded her by the Bruces. + +Meantime arrived a letter from Mr Cupples. + +"Dear Madam,�-After all the efforts of Mr Alec, aided by my best +endeavours, but counteracted by the grief of knowing that his cousin, +Miss Fraser, entertained a devoted regard for a worthless class-fellow +of his�-after all our united efforts, Mr Alec has not been able to pass +more than two of his examinations. I am certain he would have done +better but for the unhappiness to which I have referred, combined with +the illness of Miss Fraser. In the course of a day or two, he will +return to you, when, if you can succeed, as none but mothers can, in +restoring him to some composure of mind, he will be perfectly able +during the vacation to make up for lost time. + +"I am, dear madam, your obedient servant, + +"Cosmo Cupples." + +Angry with Kate, annoyed with her son, vexed with herself, and +indignant at the mediation of "that dirty vulgar little man," Mrs +Forbes forgot her usual restraint, and throwing the letter across the +table with the words "Bad news, Annie," left the room. But the effect +produced upon Annie by the contents of the letter was very different. + +Hitherto she had looked up to Alec as a great strong creature. Her +faith in him had been unquestioning and unbounded. Even his +wrong-doings had not impressed her with any sense of his weakness. But +now, rejected and disgraced, his mother dissatisfied, his friend +disappointed, and himself foiled in the battle of life, he had fallen +upon evil days, and all the woman in Annie rose for his defence. In a +moment they had changed places in the world of her moral imagination. +The strong youth was weak and defenceless: the gentle girl opened the +heart almost of motherhood, to receive and shelter the worn outraged +man. A new tenderness, a new pity took possession of her. Indignant +with Kate, angry with the professors, ready to kiss the hands of Mr +Cupples, all the tenderness of her tender nature gathered about her +fallen hero, and she was more like his wife defending him from _her_ +mother. Now she could be something if not to him yet for him. He had +been a "bright particular star" "beyond her sphere," but now the star +lay in the grass, shorn of its beams, and she took it to her bosom. + +Two days passed. On the third evening in walked Alec, pale and +trembling, evidently ill, too ill to be questioned. His breathing was +short and checked by pain. + +"If I hadn't come at once, mother," he said, "I should have been laid +up there. It's pleurisy, Mr Cupples says." + +"My poor boy!" + +"Oh! I don't care." + +"You've been working too hard, dear." + +Alec laughed bitterly. + +"I did work, mother; but it doesn't matter. She's dead." + +"Who's dead?" exclaimed his mother. + +"Kate's dead. And I couldn't help it. I tried hard. And it's all my +fault too. Cupples says she's better dead. But I might have saved her." + +He started from the sofa, and went pacing about the room, his face +flushed and his breath coming faster and shorter. His mother got him to +lie down again, and asked no more questions. The doctor came and bled +him at the arm, and sent him to bed. + +When Annie saw him worn and ill, her heart swelled till she could +hardly bear the aching of it. She would have been his slave, and she +could do nothing. She must leave him instead. She went to her room, put +on her bonnet and cloak, and was leaving the house when Mrs Forbes +caught sight of her. + +"Annie! what _do_ you mean, child? You're not going to leave me?" + +"I thought you wouldn't want me any more, ma'am." + +"You silly child!" + +Annie ran back to her room, thus compromising with a strong inclination +to dance back to it. + +When Mr Cupples and Alec had begun to place confidence in each other's +self-denial, they cared less to dog each other.�-Alec finding at the +Natural Philosophy examination that he had no chance, gathered his +papers, and leaving the room, wandered away to his former refuge when +miserable, that long desolate stretch of barren sand between the mouths +of the two rivers. Here he wandered till long after the dusk had +deepened into night.�-A sound as of one singing came across the links, +and drew nearer and nearer. He turned in the direction of it, for +something in the tones reminded him of Kate; and he almost believed the +song was her nurse's ghostly ballad. But it ceased; and after walking +some distance inland, he turned again towards the sea. The song rose +once more, but now between him and the sea. He ran towards it, falling +repeatedly on the broken ground. By the time he reached the shore, the +singing had again ceased, but presently a wild cry came from seawards, +where the waves far out were still ebbing from the shore. He dashed +along the glimmering sands, thinking he caught glimpses of something +white, but there was no moon to give any certainty. As he advanced he +became surer, but the sea was between. He rushed in. Deeper and deeper +grew the water. He swam. But before he could reach the spot, for he had +taken to the water too soon, with another cry the figure vanished, +probably in one of those deep pits which abound along that shore. Still +he held on, diving many times, but in vain. His vigour was not now what +it had once been, and at length he was so exhausted, that when he came +to himself, lying on his back in the dry sands, he had quite forgotten +how he came there. He would have rushed again into the water, but he +could scarcely move his limbs. He actually crawled part of the way +across the links to the college. There he inquired if Miss Fraser was +in the house. The maid assured him that she was in her own room, +whereupon he went home. But he had scarcely gone before they discovered +that her room was deserted, and she nowhere to be found. The shock of +this news rendered it impossible for him to throw off the effects of +his exposure. But he lingered on till Mr Cupples compelled him to go +home. Not even then, however, had her body been recovered. Alec was +convinced that she had got into one of the quicksands; but it was cast +ashore a few days after his departure, and it was well that he did not +see it. He did not learn the fact till many years after. + +It soon transpired that she had been out of her mind for some time. +Indeed rumours of the sort had been afloat before. The proximate cause +of her insanity was not certainly known. Some suspicion of the +worthlessness of her lover, some enlightenment as to his perfidy, or +his unaccountable disappearance alone, may have occasioned its +manifestation. But there is great reason to believe that she had a +natural predisposition to it. And having never been taught to provide +for her own mental sustenance, and so nourish a necessary independence, +she had been too ready to squander the wealth of a rich and lovely +nature upon an unworthy person, and the reaction had been madness and +death. But anything was better than marrying Beauchamp. + +One strange fact in the case was her inexplicable aversion to +water�-either a crude prevision of her coming fate, or, in the +mysterious operations of delirious reasoning, the actual cause of it. +The sea, visible from her window over the dreary flat of the links, may +have fascinated her, and drawn her to her death. Such cases are not +unknown. + +During the worst period of Alec's illness, he was ever wandering along +that shore, or swimming in those deadly waters. Sometimes he had laid +hold of the drowning girl and was struggling with her to the surface. +Sometimes he was drawing her in an agony from the swallowing gullet of +a quicksand, which held her fast, and swallowed at her all the time +that he fought to rescue her from its jawless throat. + +Annie took her turn in the sick chamber, watching beside the +half-unconscious lad, and listening anxiously to the murmurs that broke +through the veil of his dreams. The feeling with which she had received +the prodigal home into her heart, spread its roots deeper and wider, +and bore at length a flower of a pale-rosy flush�-Annie's love revealed +to herself�-strong although pale, delicate although strong. It seemed +to the girl she had loved him so always, only she had not thought about +it. He had fought for her and endured for her at school; he had saved +her life from the greedy waters of the Glamour at the risk of his own: +she would be the most ungrateful of girls if she did not love him.�-And +she did love him with a quiet intensity peculiar to her nature. + +Never had she happier hours than those in which it seemed that only the +stars and the angels were awake besides herself. And if while watching +him thus at night she grew sleepy, she would kneel down and pray God to +keep her awake, lest any harm should befall Alec. Then she would wonder +if even the angels could do without sleep always, and fancy them lying +about the warm fields of heaven between their own shadowy wings. She +would wonder next if it would be safe for God to close his eyes for one +minute�-safe for the world, she meant; and hope that, if ever he did +close his eyes, that might not be the one moment when she should see +his face. Then she would nod, and wake up with a start, flutter +silently to her feet, and go and peep at the slumberer. Never was woman +happier than Annie was during those blessed midnights and cold grey +dawns. Sometimes, in those terrible hours after midnight that belong +neither to the night nor the day, but almost to the primeval darkness, +the terrors of the darkness would seize upon her, and she would sit +"inhabiting trembling." But the lightest movement of the sleeper would +rouse her, and a glance at the place where he lay would dispel her +fears. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXIX. + + +One night she heard a rustling amongst the bushes in the garden; and +the next moment a subdued voice began to sing: + + I waited for the Lord my God and patiently did bear; + At length to me he did incline, my voice and cry to hear. + He took me from a fearful pit, and from the miry clay, + And on a rock he set my feet, establishing my way. + +The tune was that wildest of trustful wailings�-_Martyrs_'. + +"I didna ken that ye cared aboot psalm-tunes, Mr Cupples," murmured +Alec. + +The singing went on and he grew restless. + +It was an _eerie_ thing to go out, but she must stop the singing. If it +was Mr Cupples, she could have nothing to fear. Besides, a bad man +would not sing that song.�-As she opened the door, a soft spring wind +blew upon her full of genial strength, as if it came straight from +those dark blue clefts between the heavy clouds of the cast. Away in +the clear west, the half-moon was going down in dreaming stillness. The +dark figure of a little man stood leaning against the house, singing +gently. + +"Are you Mr Cupples?" she said. + +The man started, and answered, + +"Yes, my lass. And wha are ye?" + +"I'm Annie Anderson. Alec's some disturbit wi' your singin'. Ye'll wauk +him up, and he'll be a hantle the waur o' 't." + +"I winna sing anither stave. It was lanesome stan'in' upo' the ootside +here, as gin I war ane o' the foolish virgins." + +"Eh! wadna that be dreidfu'?" responded Annie simply. Her words awoke +an echo in Mr Cupples's conscience, but he returned no reply. + +"Hoo's Alec?" he asked. + +"Some better. He's growin' better, though it's langsome like." + +"And do they lippen you to luik efter him, no?" + +"Ay. What for no? His mither wad be worn to deith gin she sat up ilka +nicht. He canna bide ouybody but her or me." + +"Weel, ye're a young crater to hae sic a chairge.�-I wrote to Mrs +Forbes twa or three times, but I got but ae scrimpit answer. Sae as +sune's I cud win awa', I cam' to speir efter him mysel'." + +"Whan did ye come, Mr Cupples?" + +"This nicht. Or I reckon it's last nicht noo. But or I wan ower this +len'th, ye war a' i' yer beds, and I daurna disturb ye. Sae I sat doon +in a summer-seat that I cam' upo', and smokit my pipe and luikit at the +stars and the cluds. And I tried to sing a sang, but naething but +psalms wad come, for the nicht's sae awfu' solemn, whan ye win richt +intil the mids o' 't! It jist distresses me that there's naebody up to +worship God a' nicht in sic a nicht's this." + +"Nae doobt there's mony praisin' him that we canna see." + +"Ow, ay; nae doobt. But aneath this lift, and breathin' the houpfu' air +o' this divine darkness." + +Annie did not quite understand him. + +"I maun gang back to Alec," she said. "Ye'll come ower the morn, Mr +Cupples, and hear a' aboot him?" + +"I will do that, my bairn. Hoo do they ca' ye�-for I forget names +dreidfu'?" + +"Annie Anderson." + +"Ay, ay; Annie Anderson�-I hae surely heard that name afore.�-Weel, I +winna forget _you_, whether I forget yer name or no." + +"But hae ye a bed?" said the thoughtful girl, to whom the comfort of +every one who came near her was an instinctive anxiety. + +"Ow, ay. I hae a bed at the hoose o' a sma', jabberin', bitter-barkit +crater they ca' King Robert the Bruce." + +Annie knew that he must be occupying her room; and was on the point of +expressing a hope that he "wadna be disturbit wi' the rottans," when +she saw that it would lead to new explanations and delays. + +"Good night, Mr Cupples," she said, holding out her hand. + +Mr Cupples took it kindly, saying: + +"Are ye a niece, or a gran'-dochter o' the hoose, or a hired servan', +or what are ye?�-for ye're a wice-spoken lass and a bonnie." + +"I'm a servan' o' the hoose," said Annie. Then after a moment's +hesitation, she added, "but no a hired ane." + +"Ye're worth hirin' onyhoo, hinnie (honey); and they're weel aff that +has ye i' the hoose in ony capawcity. An auld man like me may say that +to yer face. Sae I'll awa' to my bed, and sing the lave o' my psalm as +I gang." + +Mr Cupples had a proclivity to garrets. He could not be comfortable if +any person was over his head. He could breathe, he said, when he got +next to the stars. For the rats he cared nothing, and slept as if the +garret were a cellar in heaven. + +It had been a sore trial of his manhood to keep his vow after he knew +that Alec was safe in the haven of a sick-bed. He knew that for him, if +he were once happy again, there was little danger of a relapse; for his +physical nature had not been greatly corrupted: there had not been time +for that. He would rise from his sickness newborn. Hence it was the +harder for Mr Cupples, in his loneliness, to do battle with his +deep-rooted desires. He would never drink as he had done, but might he +not have just one tumbler?�-That one tumbler he did not take. And--rich +reward!�-after two months the well of song within him began to gurgle +and heave as if its waters would break forth once more in the desert; +the roseate hue returned to the sunsets; and the spring came in with a +very childhood of greenness.�-The obfuscations of self-indulgence will +soon vanish where they have not been sealed by crime and systematic +selfishness. + +Another though inferior reward was, that he had money in his pocket: +with this money he would go and see Alec Forbes. The amount being +small, however, he would save it by walking. Hence it came that he +arrived late and weary. Entering the first shop he came to, he inquired +after a cheap lodging. For he said to himself that the humblest inn was +beyond his means; though probably his reason for avoiding such a +shelter was the same as made him ask Alec to throw the bottle out of +the garret. Robert Bruce heard his question, and, regarding him keenly +from under his eyebrows, debated with himself whether the applicant was +respectable�-that is, whether he could pay, and would bring upon the +house no discredit by the harbourage. The signs of such a man as +Cupples were inscrutable to Bruce; therefore his answer hung fire. + +"Are ye deif, man?" said Cupples; "or are ye feared to tyne a chance by +giein' a fair answer to a fair queston?" + +The arrow went too near the mark not to irritate Bruce. + +"Gang yer wa's," said he. "We dinna want tramps i' this toon." + +"Weel, I am a tramp, nae doobt," returned Cupples; "for I hae come ilka +bit o' the road upo' my ain fit; but I hae read in history o' twa or +three tramps that war respectable fowk for a' that. Ye winna _gie_ +onything i' this chop, I doobt�-nae even information.�-Will ye _sell_ +me an unce o' pigtail?" + +"Ow, ay. I'll sell't gin ye'll buy't." + +"There's the bawbees," said Cupples, laying the orthodox pence on the +counter. "And noo will ye tell me whaur I can get a respectable, dacent +place to lie doon in? I'll want it for a week, at ony rate." + +Before he had finished the question, the door behind the counter had +opened, and young Bruce had entered. Mr Cupples knew him well enough by +sight as a last year's bejan. + +"How are you?" he said. "I know you, though I don't know your name." + +"My name's Robert Bruce, Mr Cupples." + +"A fine name�-Robert Bruce," he replied. + +The youth turned to his father, and said�- + +"This gentleman is the librarian of our college, father." + +Bruce took his hat off his head, and set it on the counter. + +"I beg your pardon, sir," he said. "I'm terrible short-sichtit in +can'le-licht." + +"I'm used to bein' mista'en'," answered Cupples simply, perceiving that +he had got hold of a character. "Mak nae apologies, I beg ye, but +answer my queston." + +"Weel, sir, to tell the trowth, seein' ye're a gentleman, we hae a room +oorsels. But it's a garret-room, and maybe�-" + +"Then I'll hae't, whatever it be, gin ye dinna want ower muckle for't." + +"Weel, ye see, sir, your college is a great expense to heumble fowk +like oorsels, and we hae to mak it up the best way that we can." + +"Nae doot. Hoo muckle do ye want?" + +"Wad ye think five shillins ower muckle?" + +"'Deed wad I." + +"Weel, we'll say three than�-to _you_, sir." + +"I winna gie ye mair nor half-a-croon." + +"Hoot, sir! It's ower little." + +"Well, I'll look further," said Mr Cupples, putting on English, and +moving to the door. + +"Na, sir; ye'll do nae sic thing. Do ye think I wad lat the leebrarian +o' my son's college gang oot at my door this time o' nicht, to luik for +a bed till himsel'? Ye s' jist hae't at yer ain price, and welcome. +Ye'll hae yer tay and sugar and bitties o' cheese frae me, ye ken?" + +"Of course�-of course. And if you could get me some tea at once, I +should be obliged to you." + +"Mother," cried Bruce through the house-door, and held a momentary +whispering with the partner of his throne. + +"So your name's Bruce, is it?" resumed Cupples, as the other returned +to the counter. + +"Robert Bruce, sir, at your service." + +"It's a gran' _name_," said Cupples with emphasis. + +"'Deed is't, and I hae a richt to beir 't." + +"Ye'll be a descendant, nae doot, o' the Yerl o' Carrick?" said +Cupples, guessing at his weakness. + +"O' the king, sir. Fowk may think little o' me; but I come o' him that +freed Scotland. Gin it hadna been for Bannockburn, sir, whaur wad +Scotland hae been the day?" + +"Nearhan' civileezed unner the fine influences o' the English, wi' +their cultivation and their mainners, and, aboon a', their gran' +Edwards and Hairries." + +"I dinna richtly unnerstan' ye, sir," said Bruce. "Ye hae heard hoo the +king clave the skull o' Sir Henry dee Bohunn�-haena ye, sir?" + +"Ow, aye. But it was a pity it wasna the ither gait. Lat me see the way +to my room, for I want to wash my han's and face. They're jist barkit +wi' stour (dust)." + +Bruce hesitated whether to show Mr Cupples out or in. His blue blood +boiled at this insult to his great progenitor. But a half-crown would +cover a greater wrong than that even, and he obeyed. Cupples followed +him up-stairs, murmuring to himself: + +"Shades o' Wallace and Bruce! forgie me. But to see sma' craters cock +their noses and their tails as gin they had inherited the michty deeds +as weel as the names o' their forbears, jist scunners me, and turns my +blude into the gall o' bitterness�-and that's scripter for't." + +After further consultation, Mr and Mrs Bruce came to the conclusion +that it might be politic, for Robert's sake, to treat the librarian +with consideration. Consequently Mrs Bruce invited him to go down to +his tea in _the room_. Descending before it was quite ready, he looked +about him. The only thing that attracted his attention was a handsomely +bound Bible. This he took up, thinking to get some amusement from the +births of the illustrious Bruces; but the only inscription he could +find, besides the name of _John Cowie_, was the following in pencil: + +"_Super Davidis Psalmum tertium vicesimum, syngrapham pecuniariam +centum solidos valentem, qu�, me mortuo, a Annie Anderson, mihi +dilecta, sit, posui_." + +Then came some figures, and then the date, with the initials _J. C_. + +Hence it was that Mr Cupples thought he had heard the name of Annie +Anderson before. + +"It's a gran' Bible this, gudewife," he said as Mrs Bruce entered. + +"Aye is't. It belanged to oor pairis-minister." + +Nothing more passed, for Mr Cupples was hungry. + +After a long sleep in the morning, he called upon Mrs Forbes, and was +kindly received; but it was a great disappointment to him to find that +he could not see Alec. As he was in the country, however, he resolved +to make the best of it, and enjoy himself for a week. For his asserted +dislike to the country, though genuine at the time, was anything but +natural to him. So every day he climbed to the top of one or other of +the hills which inclosed the valley, and was rewarded with fresh vigour +and renewed joy. He had not learned to read Wordsworth; yet not a wind +blew through a broom-bush, but it blew a joy from it into his heart. He +too was a prodigal returned at least into _the vestibule_ of his +Father's house. And the Father sent the servants out there to minister +to him; and Nature, the housekeeper, put the robe of health upon him, +and gave him new shoes of strength, and a ring, though not the Father's +white stone. The delights of those spring days were endless to him +whose own nature was budding with new life. Familiar with all the +cottage ways, he would drop into any _hoosie_ he came near about his +dinnertime, and asking for a _piece_ (of oat-cake) and a _coguie o' +milk_, would make his dinner off those content, and leave a trifle +behind him in acknowledgment. But he would always contrive that as the +gloamin began to fall, he should be near Howglen, that he might inquire +after his friend. And Mrs Forbes began to understand him +better.-�Before the week was over, there was not a man or woman about +Howglen whom he did not know even by name; for to his surprise, even +his forgetfulness was fast vanishing in the menstruum of the +earth-spirit, the world's breath blown over the corn. In particular he +had made the acquaintance of James Dow, with whose knowing simplicity +he was greatly taken. + +On the last day but one of his intended stay, as he went to make his +daily inquiry, he dropped in to see James Dow in the "harled +hypocrite." James had come in from his work, and was sitting alone on a +bench by the table, in a corner of the earth-floored kitchen. The great +pot, lidless, and full of magnificent potatoes, was hanging above the +fire, that its contents might be quite dry for supper. Through the +little window, a foot and a half square, Cupples could see the remains +of a hawthorn hedge, a hundred years old�-a hedge no longer, but a row +of knobby, gnarled trees, full of knees and elbows; and through the +trees the remains of an orange-coloured sunset.�-It was not a beautiful +country, as I have said before; but the spring was beautiful, and the +heavens were always beautiful; and, like the plainest woman's face, the +country itself, in its best moods, had no end of beauty. + +"Hoo are ye, Jeames Doo?" + +"Fine, I thank ye, sir," said James rising. + +"I wad raither sit doon mysel', nor gar you stan' up efter yer day's +work, Jeames." + +"Ow! I dinna warstle mysel' to the deith a'thegither." + +But James, who was not a healthy man, was often in the wet field when +another would have been in bed, and righteously in bed. He had a strong +feeling of the worthlessness of man's life in comparison with the work +he has to do, even if that work be only the spreading of a fother of +dung. His mistress could not keep him from his work. + +Mr Cupples sat down, and James resumed his seat. + +"Ye're awfu' dubby (miry) aboot the feet, Mr Cupples. Jist gie me aff +yer shune, and I'll gie them a scrape and a lick wi' the +blackin'-brush," said James, again rising. + +"Deil tak' me gin I do ony sic thing!" exclaimed Mr Cupples. "My +shune'll do weel eneuch." + +"Whaur got ye a' that dub, sir? The roads is middlin' the day." + +"I dinna aye stick to the roads, Jeames. I wan intil a bog first, and +syne intil some plooed lan' that was a' lumps o' clay shinin' green i' +the sun. Sae it's nae wonner gin I be some clortit. Will ye gie me a +pitawta, Jeames, in place o' the blackin'-brush?" + +"Ay, twenty. But winna ye bide till Mysie comes in, and hae a drappy +milk wi' them? They're fine pitawtas the year." + +"Na, na, I haena time." + +"Weel, jist dip into the pot, and help yersel', sir; and I'll luik for +a grainy o' saut." + +"Hoo's yer mistress, Jeames? A fine woman that!" + +"Nae that ill, but some forfochten wi' norsin' Mr Alec. Eh! sir, that's +a fine lad, gin he wad only haud steady." + +"I'm thinkin' he winna gang far wrang again. He's gotten the arles +(earnest) and he winna want the wages.�-That's a fine lassie that's +bidin' wi' them�-Annie Anderson they ca' her." + +"'Deed is she, sir. I kent her father afore her day, and I hae kent her +sin ever she had a day. She's ane o' the finest bairns ever was seen." + +"Is she ony relation to the mistress?" + +"Ow, na. Nae mair relation nor 'at a' gude fowk's sib." + +And Dow told Cupples the girl's story, including the arrangement made +with Bruce in which he had had a principal part. + +"_Annie Anderson_�-I canna mak' oot whaur I hae heard her name afore." + +"Ye're bidin' at Bruce's, arena ye, Mr Cupples?" + +"Ay. That is, I'm sleepin' there, and payin' for't." + +"Weel, I hae little doobt ye hae heard it there." + +"I dinna think it. But maybe.�-What kin' o' chiel' 's Bruce?" + +"He's terrible greedy." + +"A moudiwarp (mole) wi' ae ee wad see that afore he had winkit twice." + +"'Deed micht he." + +"Is he honest?" + +"That's hard to answer. But I s' gar him be honest wi' regaird to her, +gin I can." + +"Wad he chait?" + +"Ay. Na. He wadna chait _muckle_. I wadna turn my back till him, +though, ohn keekit ower my shouther to haud him sicker. He wadna min' +doin' ill that gude micht come." + +"Ay, ay; I ken him.�-And the _ill_ wad be whatever hurtit anither man, +and the _gude_ whatever furthered himsel?" said Mr Cupples as he dipped +the last morsel of his third potato in the salt which he held in the +palm of his left hand. + +"Ye hae said it, Mr Cupples." + +And therewith, Mr Cupples bade James good-night, and went to _the +hoose_. + +There he heard the happy news that Alec insisted on seeing him. Against +her will, Mrs Forbes had given in, as the better alternative to vexing +him. The result of the interview was, that Cupples sat up with him that +night, and Mrs Forbes and Annie both slept. In the morning he found a +bed ready for him, to which he reluctantly betook himself and slept for +a couple of hours. The end of it was, that he did not go back to Mr +Bruce's except to pay his bill. Nor did he leave Howglen for many +weeks. + +At length, one lovely morning, when the green corn lay soaking in the +yellow sunlight, and the sky rose above the earth deep and pure and +tender like the thought of God about it, Alec became suddenly aware +that life was good, and the world beautiful. He tried to raise himself, +but failed. Cupples was by his side in a moment. Alec held out his hand +with his old smile so long disused. Cupples propped him up with +pillows, and opened the window that the warm waves of the air might +break into the cave where he had lain so long deaf to its noises and +insensible to its influences. The tide flowed into his chamber like +Pactolus, all golden with sunbeams. He lay with his hands before him +and his eyes closed, looking so happy that Cupples gazed with reverent +delight, for he thought he was praying. But he was only blessed. So +easily can God make a man happy! The past had dropped from him like a +wild but weary and sordid dream. He was reborn, a new child, in a new +bright world, with a glowing summer to revel in. One of God's lyric +prophets, the larks, was within earshot, pouring down a vocal summer of +jubilant melody. The lark thought nobody was listening but his wife; +but God heard in heaven, and the young prodigal heard on the earth. He +would be a good child henceforth, for one bunch of sunrays was enough +to be happy upon. His mother entered. She saw the beauty upon her boy's +worn countenance; she saw the noble watching love on that of his +friend; her own filled with light, and she stood transfixed and silent. +Annie entered, gazed for a moment, fled to her own room, and burst into +adoring tears.�-For she had seen the face of God, and that face was +Love�-love like the human, only deeper, deeper�-tenderer, lovelier, +stronger. She could not recall what she had seen, or how she had known +it; but the conviction remained that she had seen his face, and that it +was infinitely beautiful. + +"He has been wi' me a' the time, my God! He gied me my father, and sent +Broonie to tak' care o' me, and Dooie, and Thomas Crann, and Mrs +Forbes, and Alec. And he sent the cat whan I gaed till him aboot the +rottans. An' he's been wi' me I kenna hoo lang, and he's wi' me noo. +And I hae seen his face, and I'll see his face again. And I'll try sair +to be a gude bairn. Eh me! It's jist wonnerfu! And God's +jist....naething but God himsel'." + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXX. + + +Although Mr Cupples had been educated for the Church, and was indeed at +this present time a licentiate, he had given up all thought of pursuing +what had been his mother's ambition rather than his own choice. But his +thoughts had not ceased to run in some of the old grooves, although a +certain scepticism would sometimes set him examining those grooves to +find out whether they had been made by the wheels of the +gospel-chariot, or by those of Juggernaut in the disguise of a Hebrew +high priest, drawn by a shouting Christian people. Indeed, as soon as +he ceased to go to church, which was soon after ceasing to regard the +priesthood as his future profession, he began to look at many things +from points of view not exclusively ecclesiastical. So that, although +he did go to church at Glamerton for several Sundays, the day arriving +when he could not face it again, he did not scruple to set off for the +hills. Coming home with a great grand purple foxglove in his hand, he +met some of the missionars returning from their chapel, and amongst the +rest Robert Bruce, who stopped and spoke. + +"I'm surprised to see ye carryin' that thing o' the Lord's day, Mr +Cupples. Fowk'll think ill o' ye." + +"Weel, ye see, Mr Bruce, it angert me sae to see the ill-faured thing +positeevely growin' there upo' the Lord's day, that I pu'd it up 'maist +by the reet. To think o' a weyd like that prankin' itsel' oot in its +purple and its spots upo' the Sawbath day! It canna ken what it's +aboot. I'm only feared I left eneuch o' 't to be up again afore lang." + +"I doobt, Mr Cupples, ye haena come unner the pooer o' grace yet." + +"A pour o' creysh (grease)! Na, thank ye. I dinna want to come unner a +pour o' creysh. It wad blaud me a'thegither. Is that the gait ye +baptize i' your conventicle?" + +"There's nane sae deif's them 'at winna hear, Mr Cupples," said Bruce. +"I mean�-ye're no convertit yet." + +"Na. I'm no convertit. 'Deed no. I wadna like to be convertit. What wad +ye convert me till? A swine? Or a sma' peddlin' crater that tak's a +bawbee mair for rowin' up the pigtail in a foul paper? Ca' ye that +conversion? I'll bide as I am." + +"It's waste o' precious time speikin' to you, Mr Cupples," returned +Bruce, moving off with a red face. + +"'Deed is't," retorted Cupples; "and I houp ye winna forget the fac'? +It's o' consequens to me." + +But he had quite another word on the same subject for Annie Anderson, +whom he overtook on her way to Howglen-�she likewise returning from the +missionar kirk. + +"Isna that a bonnie ring o' _deid man's bells_, Annie?" said he, +holding out the foxglove, and calling it by its name in that part of +the country. + +"Ay is't. But that was ower muckle a flooer to tak' to the kirk wi' ye. +Ye wad gar the fowk lauch." + +"What's the richt flooer to tak' to the kirk, Annie?" + +"Ow! sober floories that smell o' the yird (earth), like." + +"Ay! ay! Sic like's what?" asked Cupples, for he had found in Annie a +poetic nature that delighted him. + +"Ow! sic like's thyme and southren-wood, and maybe a bittie o' +mignonette." + +"Ay! ay! And sae the cowmon custom abuses you, young, bonnie lammies o' +the flock. Wadna ye tak' the rose o' Sharon itsel', nor the fire-reid +lilies that made the text for the Saviour's sermon? Ow! na. Ye maun be +sober, wi' flooers bonnie eneuch, but smellin' o' the kirkyard raither +nor the blue lift, which same's the sapphire throne o' Him that sat +thereon." + +"Weel, but allooin' that, ye sudna gar fowk lauch, wi' a bonnie flooer, +but ridickleous for the size o' 't, 'cep' ye gie 't room. A kirk's ower +little for't." + +"Ye're richt there, my dawtie. And I haena been to the kirk ava'. I hae +been to the hills." + +"And what got ye there?" + +"I got this upo' the road hame." + +"But what got ye there?" + +"Weel, I got the blue lift." + +"And what was that to ye?" + +"It _said_ to me that I was a foolish man to care aboot the claiks and +the strifes o' the warl'; for a' was quaiet aboon, whatever stramash +they micht be makin' doon here i' the cellars o' the speeritual +creation." + +Annie was silent: while she did not quite understand him, she had a dim +perception of a grand meaning in what he said. + +The fact was that Annie was the greater of the two _in esse_; Cupples +the greater _in posse_. His imagination let him see things far beyond +what he could for a long time attain unto. + +"But what got ye at the kirk, Annie?" + +"Weel, I canna say I got verra muckle the day. Mr Turnbull's text was, +'Thou, Lord, art merciful, for thou renderest to every man according to +his works.'" + +"Ye micht hae gotten a hantel oot o' that." + +"Ay. But ye see, he said the Lord was merciful to ither fowk whan he +rendert to the wicked the punishment due to them. And I cudna richtly +feel i' my hert that I cud praise the Lord for that mercy." + +"I dinna wonner, my bairn." + +"But eh! Mr Cupples, Mr Turnbull's no like that aye. He's bonnie upo' +the Gospel news. I wiss ye wad gang and hear him the nicht. I canna +gang, cause Mrs Forbes is gaun oot." + +"I'll gang and hear him, to please you, my lassie; for, as I said, I +haena been to the kirk the day." + +"But do ye think it's richt to brak the Sawbath, Mr Cupples?" + +"Ay and no." + +"I dinna unnerstan' ye." + +"What the clergy ca' brakin' the Sawbath's no brakin' o' 't. I'll tell +ye what seems to me the differ atween the like o' your Mr Turnbull and +the Pharisees�-and it's a great differ. They band heavy burdens and +grievous to be borne, and laid them upo' men's shouthers, but wadna +touch sic like to carry them wi' ane o' their fingers: Mr Turnbull and +the like o' him beirs their share. But the burden's nane the less a +heavy ane and grievous to be borne." + +"But the burden's no _that_ grievous to me, Mr Cupples." + +"There's no sayin' what you women-fowk will _not_ tak' a pleesur' in +bearin'; but the passage refers expressly to the men's shouthers. And +faith mine _will_ not endure to be loadent wi' ither fowks fykes +(trifles). And sae come alang, deid man's bells." + +Annie thought all this rather dreadful, but she was not shocked as a +Christian who lives by the clergy and their traditions, instead of by +the fresh Spirit of God, would have been. For she could not help seeing +that there was truth in it. + +But although Cupples could say much to set Annie thinking, and although +she did find enlightenment at last from pondering over his words, yet +she could have told him far deeper things than he had yet suspected to +exist. For she knew that the goal of all life is the face of God. +Perhaps she had to learn a yet higher lesson: that our one free home is +the Heart, the eternal lovely Will of God, than that which should fail, +it were better that we and all the worlds should go out in blackness. +But this Will is our Salvation. Because He liveth we shall live also. + +Mr Cupples found in the missionar kirk a certain fervour which pleased +him. For Mr Turnbull, finding that his appeals to the ungodly were now +of little avail to attract listeners of the class, had betaken himself +to the building up of the body of Christ, dwelling in particular upon +the love of the brethren. But how some of them were to be loved, except +with the love of compassionate indignation, even his most rapt listener +Thomas Crann could not have supposed himself capable of explaining. As +I said, however, Mr Cupples found the sermon in some degree impressive, +and was attentive. As he was walking away, questioning with himself, he +heard a voice in the air above him. It came from the lips of Thomas +Crann, who, although stooping from asthma and rheumatism, still rose +nearly a foot above the head of Mr Cupples. + +"I was glaid to see ye at oor kirk, sir," said Thomas. + +"What for that?" returned the librarian, who always repelled first +approaches, in which he was only like Thomas himself, and many other +worthy people, both Scotch and English. + +"A stranger sud aye be welcomed to onybody's hoose." + +"I didna ken it was your hoose." + +"Ow na. It's no my hoose. It's the Lord's hoose. But a smile frae the +servan'-lass that opens the door's something till a man that gangs to +ony hoose for the first time, ye ken," returned Thomas, who, like many +men of rough address, was instantly put upon his good behaviour by the +exhibition of like roughness in another. + +This answer disarmed Cupples. He looked up into Thomas's face, and saw +first a massive chin; then a firmly closed mouth; then a nose, straight +as a Greek's, but bulky and of a rough texture; then two keen grey +eyes, and lastly a big square forehead supported by the two pedestals +of high cheek bones�-the whole looking as if it had been hewn out of +his professional granite, or rather as if the look of the granite had +passed into the face that was so constantly bent over it fashioning the +stubborn substance to the yet more stubborn human will. And Cupples not +only liked the face, but felt that he was in the presence of one of the +higher natures of the world�-made to command, or rather, which is far +better, to influence. Before he had time to reply, however, Thomas +resumed: + +"Ye hae had a heap o' tribble, I doobt, wi' that laddie, Alec Forbes." + +"Naething mair nor was nateral," answered Cupples. + +"He's a fine crater, though. I ken that weel. Is he come back, do ye +think?" + +"What do ye mean? He's lyin' in's bed, quaiet eneuch, puir fallow!" + +"Is he come back to the fold?" + +"Nae to the missionars, I'm thinkin'." + +"Dinna anger me. Ye're nae sae ignorant as ye wad pass for. Ye ken weel +eneuch what I mean. What care I for the missionars mair nor ony ither +o' the Lord's fowk, 'cep that they're mair like his fowk nor ony ither +that I hae seen?" + +"Sic like's Robert Bruce, for a sample." + +Thomas stopped as if he had struck against a stone wall, and went back +on his track. + +"What I want to ken is whether Alec unnerstans yet that the prodigal's +aye ill aff; and�-" + +"Na," interrupted Cupples. "He's never been cawed to the swine yet. Nor +he sudna be, sae lang's I had a saxpence to halve wi' him." + +"Ye're no richt, frien', _there_. The suner a prodigal comes to the +swine the better!" + +"Ay; that's what you richteous elder brithers think. I ken that weel +eneuch." + +"Mr Cupples, I'm nae elder brither i' that sense. God kens I wad gang +oot to lat him in." + +"What ken ye aboot him, gin it be a fair queston?" + +"I hae kent him, sir, sin he was a bairn. I perilled his life�-no my +ain�-to gar him do his duty. I trust in God it wad hae been easier for +me to hae perilled my ain. Sae ye see I do ken aboot him." + +"Weel," said Mr Cupples, to whom the nature of Thomas had begun to open +itself, "I alloo that. Whaur do ye bide? What's yer name? I'll come and +see ye the morn's nicht, gin ye'll lat me." + +"My name's Thomas Crann. I'm a stonemason. Speir at Robert Bruce's +chop, and they'll direc ye to whaur I bide. Ye may come the morn's +nicht, and welcome. Can ye sup parritch?" + +"Ay, weel that." + +"My Jean's an extrornar han' at parritch. I only houp puir Esau had +half as guid for's birthricht. Ye'll hae a drappy wi' me?" + +"Wi' a' my hert," answered Cupples. + +And here their ways diverged. + +When he reached home, he asked Annie about Thomas. Annie spoke of him +in the highest terms, adding, + +"I'm glaid ye like him, Mr Cupples." + +"I dinna think, wi' sic an opingon o' 'm, it can maitter muckle to you +whether I like him or no," returned Mr Cupples, looking at her +quizzically. + +"Na, nae muckle as regairds him. But it says weel for you, ye ken, Mr +Cupples," replied Annie archly. + +Mr Cupples laughed good-humouredly, and said, + +"Weel, I s' gang and see him the morn's nicht, ony gait." + +And so he did. And the porridge and the milk were both good. + +"This is heumble fare, Mr Cupples," said Thomas. + +"It maitters little compairateevely what a man lives upo'," said +Cupples sententiously, "sae it be first-rate o' 'ts ain kin'. And this +_is_ first-rate." + +"Tak' a drappy mair, sir." + +"Na, nae mair, I thank ye." + +"They'll be left, gin ye dinna." + +"Weel, sen' them ower to Mr Bruce," said Cupples, with a sly wink. "I +s' warran' he'll coup them ower afore they sud be wastit. He canna bide +waste." + +"Weel, that's a vertue. The Saviour himsel' garred them gaither up the +fragments." + +"Nae doobt. But I'm feared Bruce wad hae coontit the waste by hoo mony +o' the baskets gaed by his door. I'm surprised at ye, Mr Crann, tryin' +to defen' sic a meeserable crater, jist 'cause he gangs to your kirk." + +"Weel, he is a meeserable crater, and I canna bide him. He's jist a +Jonah in oor ship, an Achan in oor camp. But I sudna speyk sae to ane +that's no a member." + +"Never ye min'. I'm auld eneuch to hae learned to haud my tongue. But +we'll turn till a better subjec'. Jist tell me hoo ye made Alec peril's +life for conscience sake. Ye dinna burn fowk here for nae freely +haudin' by the shorter Carritchis, do ye?" + +And hereupon followed the story of the flood. + +Both these men, notwithstanding the defiance they bore on their +shields, were of the most friendly and communicative disposition. So +soon as they saw that a neighbour was trustworthy, they trusted him. +Hence it is not marvellous that communication should have been mutual. +Cupples told Thomas in return how he had come to know Alec, and what +compact had arisen between them. Thomas, as soon as he understood Mr +Cupples's sacrifice, caught the delicate hand in his granite +grasp�-like that with which the steel anvil and the stone block held +Arthur's sword�-and said solemnly, + +"Ye hae done a great deed, which winna gang wantin' its reward. It +canna hae merit, but it maun be pleesant in His sicht. Ye hae baith +conquered sin i' yersel, and ye hae turned the sinner frae the error o' +his ways." + +"Hoots!" interrupted Cupples, "do ye think I was gaun to lat the laddie +gang reid-wud to the deevil, ohn stud in afore 'm and cried _Hooly_!" + +After this the two were friends, and met often. Cupples went to the +missionars again and again, and they generally walked away together. + +"What gart ye turn frae the kirk o' yer fathers, and tak to a +conventicle like that, Thomas?" asked Mr Cupples one evening. + +"Ye hae been to them baith, and I wad hae thocht ye wad hae kent better +nor to speir sic a question," answered Thomas. + +"Ay, ay. But what gart ye think o' 't first?" + +"Weel, I'll tell ye the haill story. Whan I was a callan, I took the +play to mysel' for a week, or maybe twa, and gaed wi' a frien' i' the +same trade's mysel', to see what was to be seen alang a screed o' the +sea-coast, frae toon to toon. My compaingon wasna that gude at the +traivellin'; and upo' the Setterday nicht, there we war in a +public-hoose, and him no able to gang ae fit further, for sair heels +and taes. Sae we bude to bide still ower the Sawbath, though we wad +fain hae been oot' o' the toon afore the kirk began. But seein' that we +cudna, I thocht it wad be but dacent to gang to the kirk like ither +fowk, and sae I made mysel' as snod as I could, and gaed oot. And afore +I had gane mony yairds, I cam upo' fowk gaein to the kirk. And sae I +loot the stream carry me alang wi' 't, and gaed in and sat doon, though +the place wasna exackly like a kirk a'thegither. But the minister had a +gift o' prayer and o' preaching as weel; and the fowk a' sang as gin't +was pairt o' their business to praise God, for fear he wad tak it frae +them and gie't to the stanes. Whan I cam oot, and was gaein quaietly +back to the public, there cam first ae sober-luikin man up to me, and +he wad hae me hame to my denner; and syne their cam an auld man, and +efter that a man that luikit like a sutor, and ane and a' o' them wad +hae me hame to my denner wi' them�-for no airthly rizzon but that I was +a stranger. But ye see I cudna gang 'cause my frien' was waitin' for +his till I gaed back. Efter denner, I speirt at the landlady gin she +cud tell me what they ca'd themsels, the fowk 'at gathered i' that +pairt o' the toon; and says she, 'I dinna ken what they ca' +them-�they're nae customers o' mine�-but I jist ken this, they're +hard-workin' fowk, kind to ane anither. A'body trusts their word. Gif +ony o' them be sick, the rest luiks efter them till they're better; and +gin ony o' them happens to gang the wrang gait, there's aye three or +four o' them aboot him, till they get him set richt again. 'Weel,' says +I, 'I dinna care what they ca' them; but gin ever I jine ony kirk, that +s' be the kirk.' Sae, efter that, whan ance I had gotten a sure houp, a +rael grun' for believin' that I was ane o' the called and chosen, I +jist jined mysel' to them that sud be like them�-for they ca'd them a' +Missionars." + +"Is that lang sin syne?" + +"Ay, it's twenty year noo." + +"I thocht as muckle. I doobt they hae fared like maist o' the new +fashions." + +"Hoo that?" + +"Grown some auld themsel's. There's a feow signs o' decrepitude, no to +say degeneracy, amo' ye, isna there?" + +"I maun alloo that. At the first, things has a kin' o' a swing that +carries them on. But the sons an' the dochters dinna care sae muckle +aboot them as the fathers and mithers. Maybe they haena come throw the +hards like them." + +"And syne there'll be ane or twa cruppen in like that chosen vessel o' +grace they ca' Robert Bruce. I'm sure he's eneuch to ruin ye i' the +sicht o' the warl', hooever you and he may fare at heid-quarters, bein' +a' called and chosen thegither." + +"For God's sake, dinna think that sic as him gies ony token o' being +ane o' the elec." + +"Hoo wan he in than? They say ye're unco' particular. The Elec sud ken +an elec." + +"It's the siller, man, that blin's the een o' them that hae to sit in +jeedgment upo' the applicants. The crater professed, and they war jist +ower willin' to believe him." + +"Weel, gin that be the case, I dinna see that ye're sae far aheid o' +fowk that disna mak' sae mony pretensions." + +"Indeed, Mr Cupples, I fully doobt that the displeesur o' the Almichty +is restin' upo' oor kirk; and Mr Turnbull, honest man, appears to feel +the wacht o' 't. We hae mair than ae instance i' the Scriptur o' a +haill community sufferin' for the sin o' ane." + +"Do ye ken ony instance o' a gude man no bein' able to win in to your +set?" + +"Ay, ane, I think. There was a fule body that wantit sair to sit doon +wi' 's. But what cud we do? We cudna ken whether he had savin' grace or +no, for the body cudna speyk that a body cud unnerstan' him?" + +"And ye didna lat him sit doon wi' ye?" + +"Na. Hoo cud we?" + +"The Lord didna dee for him, did he?" + +"We cudna tell." + +"And what did the puir cratur do?" + +"He grat" (wept). + +"And hoo cam' ye to see that ye wad hae been a' the better o' a wee +mair pooer to read the heart?" + +"Whan the cratur was deein', the string o' his tongue, whether that +string lay in his mou', or in his brain, was lousened, and he spak' +plain, and he praised God." + +"Weel, I can_not_ see that your plan, haudin' oot innocents that lo'e +Him, and lattin in thieves that wad steal oot o' the Lord's ain +bag-�gie them a chance-�can be an impruvment upo' the auld fashion o' +settin' a man to judge himsel', and tak the wyte o' the jeedgment upo' +'s ain shouthers." + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXXI. + + +Annie began to perceive that it was time for her to go, partly from the +fact that she was no longer wanted so much, and partly from finding in +herself certain conditions of feeling which she did not know what to do +with. + +"Annie's coming back to you in a day or two, Mr Bruce," said Mrs +Forbes, having called to pay some of her interest, and wishing to +prepare the way for her return. "She has been with me a long time, but +you know she was ill, and I could not part with her besides." + +"Weel, mem," answered Bruce, "we'll be verra happy to tak' her hame +again, as sune's ye hae had a' the use ye want o' her." + +He had never assumed this tone before, either to Mrs Forbes or with +regard to Annie. But she took no notice of it. + +Both Mr and Mrs Bruce received the girl so kindly that she did not know +what to make of it. Mr Bruce especially was all sugar and +butter�-rancid butter of course. When she went up to her old +rat-haunted room, her astonishment was doubled. For the holes in floor +and roof had been mended; the sky-light was as clean as glass a hundred +years old could be; a square of carpet lay in the middle of the floor; +and cheque-curtains adorned the bed. She concluded that these luxuries +had been procured for Mr Cupples, but could not understand how they +came to be left for her. + +Nor did the consideration shown her decrease after the first novelty of +her return had worn off; and altogether the main sources of her former +discomfort had ceased to flow. The baby had become a sweet-tempered +little girl; Johnnie was at school all day; and Robert was a +comparatively well-behaved, though still sulky youth. He gave himself +great airs to his former companions, but to Annie he was condescending. +He was a good student, and had the use of _the room_ for a study. + +Robert Bruce the elder had disclosed his projects to his heir, and he +had naturally declined all effort for their realization. But he began +at length to observe that Annie had grown very pretty; and then he +thought it would be a nice thing to fall in love with her, since, from +his parents' wishes to that end, she must have some money. Annie, +however, did not suspect anything, till, one day, she overheard the +elder say to the younger, + +"Ye dinna push, man. Gang benn to the chop and get a cnottie o' reid +candy-sugar, and gie her that the neist time ye see her her lane. The +likes o' her kens what that means. And gin she tak's 't frae ye, ye may +hae the run o' the drawer. It's worth while, ye ken. Them 'at winna saw +winna reap." + +From that moment she was on her guard. Nor did she give the youth a +chance of putting his father's advice into operation. + +Meantime Alec got better and better, went out with Mr Cupples in the +gig, ate like an ogre, drank like a hippopotamus, and was rapidly +recovering his former strength. As he grew better, his former grief did +draw nearer, but such was the freshness of his new life, that he seemed +to have died and risen again like Lazarus, leaving his sorrow behind +him in the grave, to be communed with only in those dim seasons when +ghosts walk. + +One evening over their supper, he was opposing Mr Cupples's departure +for the twentieth time. At length the latter said: + +"Alec, I'll bide wi' ye till the neist session upon ae condition." + +"What is that, Mr Cupples?" said Mrs Forbes. "I shall be delighted to +know it." + +"Ye see, mem, this young rascal here made a fule o' 'msel' last session +and didna pass; and�-" + +"Let bygones be bygones, if you please, Mr Cupples, said Mrs Forbes +pleasantly. + +"'Deed no, mem. What's the use o' byganes but to learn frae them hoo to +meet the bycomes? Ye'll please to hear me oot; and gin Alec doesna like +to hear me, he maun jist sit _and_ hear me." + +"Fire away, Mr Cupples," said Alec. + +"I will.�-For them that didna pass i' the en' o' the last session, +there's an examination i' the beginnin' o' the neist�-gin they like to +stan' 't. Gin they dinna, they maun gang throu the same classes ower +again, and stan' the examination at the end�-that is, gin they want a +degree; and that's a terrible loss o' time for the start. Noo, gin +Alec'll set to wark like a man, I'll help him a' that I can; and by the +gatherin' again, he'll be up wi' the lave o' the fleet. Faith! I'll sit +like Deith i' the spectre-bark, and blaw intil his sails a' that I can +blaw. Maybe ye dinna ken that verse i' _The Rhyme o' the Ancient +Mariner_? It was left oot o' the later editions: + + 'A gust of wind sterte up behind, + And whistled through his bones; + Through the holes of his eyes and the hole of his mouth, + Half-whistles and half-groans.' + +There! that's spicy�-for them 'at likes ghaistry." + +That very day Alec resumed. Mr Cupples would not let him work a moment +after he began to show symptoms of fatigue. But the limit was moved +further and further every day, till at length he could work four hours. +His tutor would not hear of any further extension, and declared he +would pass triumphantly. + +The rest of the summer-day they spent in wandering about, or lying in +the grass, for it was a hot and dry summer, so that the grass was a +very bed of health. Then came all the pleasures of the harvest. And +when the evenings grew cool, there were the books that Mr Cupples +foraged for in Glamerton, seeming to find them by the scent. + +And Mr Cupples tried to lead Alec into philosophical ways of regarding +things; for he had just enough of religion to get some good of +philosophy�-which itself is the religion of skeletons. + +"Ye see," he would say, "it's pairt o' the machine. What a body has to +do is to learn what pinion or steam-box, or piston, or muckle +water-wheel he represents, and stick to that, defyin' the deevil, whase +wark is to put the machine out o' gear. And sae he maun grin' awa', and +whan Deith comes, he'll say, as Andrew Wylie did�-'Weel run, little +wheelie!' and tak' him awa' wi' him some gait or ither, whaur, maybe, +he may mak' choice o' his ain machine for the neist trial." + +"That's some cauld doctrine, Mr Cupples," Alec would say. + +"Weel," he would return with a smile, "gang to yer frien' Thamas Crann, +and he'll gie ye something a hantle better. That's ane o' the maist +extrornar men I ever made acquantance wi'. He'll gie ye divine +philosophy�-a dooms sicht better nor mine. But, eh! he's saft for a' +that." + +Annie would have got more good from these readings than either of them. +Mr Cupples was puzzled to account for her absence, but came to see into +the mother's defensive strategy, who had not yet learned to leave such +things to themselves; though she might have known by this time that the +bubbles of scheming mothers, positive or negative, however well-blown, +are in danger of collapsing into a drop of burning poison. He missed +Annie very much, and went often to see her, taking her what books he +could. With one or other of these she would wander along the banks of +the clear brown Glamour, now watching it as it subdued its rocks or lay +asleep in its shadowy pools, now reading a page or two, or now seating +herself on the grass, and letting the dove of peace fold its wings upon +her bosom. Even her new love did not more than occasionally ruffle the +flow of her inward river. She had long cherished a deeper love, which +kept it very calm. Her stillness was always wandering into prayer; but +never did she offer a petition that associated Alec's fate with her +own; though sometimes she would find herself holding up her heart like +an empty cup which knew that it was empty. She missed Tibbie Dyster +dreadfully. + +One day, thinking she heard Mr Cupples come upstairs, she ran down with +a smile on her face, which fell off it like a withered leaf when she +saw no one there but Robert the student. He, taking the smile for +himself, rose and approached her with an ugly response on his heavy +countenance. She turned and flew up again to her room; whither to her +horror he followed her, demanding a kiss. An ordinary Scotch maiden of +Annie's rank would have answered such a request from a man she did not +like with a box on the ear, tolerably delivered; but Annie was too +proud even to struggle, and submitted like a marble statue, except that +she could not help wiping her lips after the salute. The youth walked +away more discomfited than if she had made angry protestations, and a +successful resistance. + +Annie sat down and cried. Her former condition in the house was +enviable to this.�-That same evening, without saying a word to any one, +for there was a curious admixture of outward lawlessness with the +perfect inward obedience of the girl, she set out for Clippenstrae, on +the opposite bank of the Wan Water. It was a gorgeous evening. The sun +was going down in purple and crimson, divided by such bars of gold as +never grew in the mines of Ophir. A faint rosy mist hung its veil over +the hills about the sunset; and a torrent of red light streamed down +the westward road by which she went. The air was soft, and the light +sobered with a sense of the coming twilight. It was such an evening as +we have, done into English, in the ninth Evening Voluntary of +Wordsworth. And Annie felt it such. Thank God, is does not need a +poetic education to feel such things. It needs a poetic education to +_say_ such things so, that another, not seeing, yet shall see; but that +such a child as Annie should not be able to feel them, would be the one +argument to destroy our belief in the genuineness of the poet's vision. +For if so, can the vision have come from Nature's self? Has it not +rather been evoked by the magic rod of the poet's will from his own +chambers of imagery? + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXXII. + + +When she reached Clippenstrae, she found that she had been sent there. +Her aunt came from the inner room as she opened the door, and she knew +at once by her face that Death was in the house. For its expression +recalled the sad vision of her father's departure. Her great-uncle, the +little grey-headed old cottar in the Highland bonnet, lay dying�-in the +Highland bonnet still. He was going to "the land o' the Leal" (loyal), +the true-hearted, to wait for his wife, whose rheumatism was no chariot +of fire for swiftness, whatever it might be for pain, to bear her to +the "high countries." He has had nothing to do with our story, save +that once he made our Annie feel that she had a home. And to give that +feeling to another is worth living for, and justifies a place in any +story like mine. + +Auntie Meg's grief appeared chiefly in her nose; but it was none the +less genuine for that, for her nature was chiefly nose. She led the way +into the death-room�-it could hardly be called the sick-room�-and Annie +followed. By the bedside sat, in a high-backed chair, an old woman with +more wrinkles in her face than moons in her life. She was perfectly +calm, and looked like one, already half-across the river, watching her +friend as he passed her towards the opposing bank. The old man lay with +his eyes closed. As soon as he knew that he was dying he had closed his +eyes, that the dead orbs might not stare into the faces of the living. +It had been a whim of his for years. He would leave the house decent +when his lease was up. And the will kept pressing down the lids which +it would soon have no power to lift. + +"Ye're come in time," said Auntie Meg, and whispered to the old +woman�-"My brither Jeames's bairn." + +"Ay, ye're come in time, lassie," said the great-aunt kindly, and said +no more. + +The dying man heard the words, opened his eyes, glanced once at Annie, +and closed them again. + +"Is that ane o' the angels come?" he asked, for his wits were gone a +little way before. + +"Na, weel I wat!" said the hard-mouthed ungracious Meg. "It's Annie +Anderson, Jeames Anderson's lass." + +The old man put his hand feebly from under the bed-clothes. + +"I'm glad to see ye, dawtie," he said, still without opening his eyes. +"I aye wantit to see mair o' ye, for ye're jist sic a bairn as I wad +hae likit to hae mysel' gin it had pleased the Lord. Ye're a douce, +God-fearin' lassie, and He'll tak care o' his ain." + +Here his mind began to wander again. + +"Marget," he said, "is my een steekit, for I think I see angels?" + +"Ay are they�-close eueuch." + +"Weel, that's verra weel. I'll hae a sleep noo." + +He was silent for some time. Then he reverted to the fancy that Annie +was the first of the angels come to carry away his soul, and murmured +brokenly: + +"Whan ye tak' it up, be carefu' hoo ye han'le 't, baith for it's some +weyk, and for it's no ower clean, and micht blaud the bonnie white +han's o' sic God-servers as yersels. I ken mysel there's ae spot ower +the hert o' 't, whilk cam o' an ill word I gied a bairn for stealin' a +neep. But they did steal a hantle that year. And there's anither spot +upo' the richt han', whilk cam o' ower gude a bargain I made wi' auld +John Thamson at Glass fair. And it wad never come oot wi' a' the soap +and water-�Hoots, I'm haverin'! It's upo' the han' o' my soul, whaur +soap and water can never come. Lord, dight it clean, and I'll gie him +'t a' back whan I see him in thy kingdom. And I'll beg his pardon +forbye. But I didna chait him a'thegither. I only tuik mair nor I wad +hae gi'en for the colt mysel'. And min' ye dinna lat me fa', gaein' +throu the lift." + +He went on thus, with wandering thoughts that in their wildest vagaries +were yet tending homeward; and which when least sound, were yet busy +with the wisest of mortal business--repentance. By degrees he fell into +a slumber, and from that, about midnight, into a deeper sleep. + +The next morning, Annie went out. She could not feel oppressed or +sorrowful at such a death, and she would walk up the river to the +churchyard where her father lay. The Wan Water was shallow, and +therefore full of talk about all the things that were deep secrets when +its bosom was full. Along great portions of its channel, the dry stones +lay like a sea-beach. They had been swept from the hills in the +torrents of its autumnal fury. The fish did not rise, for the heat made +them languid. No trees sheltered them from the rays of the sun. Both +above and below, the banks were rugged, and the torrent strong; but at +this part the stream flowed through level fields. Here and there a +large piece had cracked off and fallen from the bank, to be swept away +in the next flood; but meantime the grass was growing on it, greener +than anywhere else. The corn would come close to the water's edge and +again sweep away to make room for cattle and sheep; and here and there +a field of red clover lay wavering between shadow and shine. She went +up a long way, and then crossing some fields, came to the churchyard. +She did not know her father's grave, for no stone marked the spot where +he sank in this broken earthy sea. There was no church: its memory even +had vanished. It seemed as if the churchyard had swallowed the church +as the heavenly light shall one day swallow the sun and the moon; and +the lake of divine fire shall swallow death and hell. She lingered a +little, and then set out on her slow return, often sitting down on the +pebbles, sea-worn ages before the young river had begun to play with +them. + +Resting thus about half way home, she sang a song which she had found +in her father's old song-book. She had said it once to Alec and Curly, +but they did not care much for it, and she had not thought of it again +till now. + + "Ane by ane they gang awa'. + The gatherer gathers great an' sma'. + Ane by ane maks ane an' a'. + + Aye whan ane is ta'en frae ane, + Ane on earth is left alane, + Twa in heaven are knit again. + + Whan God's hairst is in or lang, + Golden-heidit, ripe, and thrang, + Syne begins a better sang." + +She looked up, and Curly was walking through the broad river to where +she sat. + +"I kent ye a mile aff, Annie," he said. + +"I'm glaid to see ye, Curly." + +"I wonner gin ye'll be as glaid to see me the neist time, Annie." + +Then Annie perceived that Curly looked earnest and anxious. + +"What do ye say, Curly?" she returned. + +"I hardly ken what I say, Annie, though I ken what I mean. And I dinna +ken what I'm gaun to say neist, but they say the trowth will oot. I +wiss it wad, ohn a body said it." + +"What can be the maitter, Curly?"�-Annie was getting frightened.�-"It +maun be ill news, or ye wadna luik like that." + +"I doobt it'll be warst news to them that it's nae news till." + +"Ye speyk in riddles, Curly." + +He tried to laugh but succeeded badly, and stood before her, with +downcast eyes, poking his thorn-stick into the mass of pebbles. Annie +waited in silence, and that brought it out at last. + +"Annie, when we war at the schule thegither, I wad hae gien ye +onything. Noo I hae gien ye a' thing, and my hert to the beet (boot) o' +the bargain." + +"Curly!" said Annie, and said no more, for she felt as if her heart +would break. + +"I likit ye at the schule, Annie; but noo there's naething i' the warl +but you." + +Annie rose gently, came close to him, and laying a hand on his arm, +said, + +"I'm richt sorry for ye, Curly." + +He half turned his back, was silent for a moment, and then said coldly, +but in a trembling voice, + +"Dinna distress yersel'. We canna help it." + +"But what'll ye do, Curly?" asked Annie in a tone full of compassionate +loving-kindness, and with her hand still on his arm. "It's sair to +bide." + +"Gude kens that.�-I maun jist warstle throu' 't like mony anither. I'll +awa' back to the pig-skin saiddle I was workin' at," said Curly, with a +smile at the bitterness of his fate. + +"It's no that I dinna like ye, Curly. Ye ken that. I wad do anything +for ye that I cud do. Ye hae been a gude frien' to me." + +And here Annie burst out crying. + +"Dinna greit. The Lord preserve's! dinna greit. I winna say anither +word aboot it. What's Curly that sic a ane as you sud greit for him? +Faith! it's nearhan' as guid as gin ye lo'ed me. I'm as prood's a +turkey-cock," averred Curly in a voice ready to break with emotion of a +very different sort from pride. + +"It's a sair thing that things winna gang richt!" said Annie at last, +after many vain attempts to stop the fountain by drying the stream of +her tears.�-I believe they were the first words of complaint upon +things in general that she ever uttered. + +"Is't my wyte, Curly?" she added. + +"Deil a bit o' 't!" cried Curly. "And I beg yer pardon for sweirin'. +Your wyte! I was aye a fule. But maybe," he added, brightening a +little, "I micht hae a chance�-some day-�some day far awa', ye ken, +Annie?" + +"Na, na, Curly. Dinna think o' 't. There's no chance for ye, dear +Curly." + +His face flushed red as a peony. + +"That lick-the-dirt 's no gaun to gar ye marry the colliginer?" + +"Dinna ye be feared that I'll marry onybody I dinna like, Curly." + +"Ye dinna like him. I houp to God!" + +"I canna bide him." + +"Weel, maybe�-Wha kens? I _daurna_ despair." + +"Curly, Curly, I maun be honest wi' you, as ye hae been wi' me. Whan +ance a body's seen ane, they canna see anither, ye ken. Wha cud hae +been at the schule as I was sae lang, and syne taen oot o' the water, +ye ken, and syne�-?" + +Annie stopped. + +"Gin ye mean Alec Forbes�-" said Curly, and stopped too. But presently +he went on again�-"Gin I war to come atween Alec Forbes and you, +hangin' wad be ower gude for me. But has Alec�-" + +"Na, nae a word. But haud yer tongue. Curly. Ance is a' wi' me.-�It's +nae mony lasses wad hae tell't ye sic a thing. But I ken it's richt. +Ye're the only ane that has my secret. Keep it, Curly." + +"Like Deith himsel'," said Curly. "Ye _are_ a braw lass." + +"Ye maunna think ill o' me, Curly. I hae tell't ye the trowth." + +"Jist lat me kiss yer bonnie han' and I'll gang content." + +Wisely done or not, it was truth and tenderness that made her offer her +lips instead. He turned in silence, comforted for the time, though the +comfort would evaporate long before the trouble would sink. + +"Curly!" cried Annie, and he came back. + +"I think that's young Robert Bruce been to Clippenstrae to speir efter +me. Dinna lat him come farther. He's an unceevil fallow." + +"Gin he wins by me, he maun hae mair feathers nor I hae," said Curly, +and walked on. + +Annie followed slowly. When she saw the men meet she sat down. + +Curly spoke first, as he came up. + +"A fine day, Robbie," he said. + +Bruce made no reply, for relations had altered since school-days. It +was an evil moment however in which to carry a high chin to Willie +Macwha, who was out of temper with the whole world except Annie +Anderson. He strode up to the _colliginer_. + +"I said it was a fine day," he repeated. + +"Well, I said nothing to the contrary," answered Bruce, putting on his +English. + +"It's the custom i' this country to mak what answer a man has the sense +to mak whan he's spoken till ceevily." + +"I considered you uncivil." + +"That's jist what a bonnie lassie sittin' yonner said aboot you whan +she prayed me no to lat you gang a step nearer till her." + +Curly found it at the moment particularly agreeable to quarrel. +Moreover he had always disliked Bruce, and now hated him because Annie +had complained of him. + +"I have as much right to walk here as you or any one else," said Bruce. + +"Maybe; but even colliginers doesna aye get their richts. Ae richt +whiles rides upo' the tap o' anither. And Annie Anderson has a richt no +to be disturbit, whan her uncle, honest man, 's jist lyin' waitin' +for's coffin i' the hoose yonner." + +"I'm her cousin." + +"It's sma' comfort ony o' yer breed ever brocht her. Cousin or no, ye +sanna gang near her." + +"I'll go where I please," said Bruce, moving to pass. + +Curly moved right in front of him. + +"By me ye shanna gang. I hae lickit ye afore for bein' ill till her; +and I will again gin ye gang a step nearer till her. She doesna want +ye. Faith I will! But I wad raither no fecht afore her. Sae jist come +back to the toon wi' me, and we'll say nae mair aboot it." + +"I'll see you damned!" said Bruce. + +"Maybe ye may, bein' likly to arrive at the spot first. But i' the mean +time, gin ye dinna want her to see ye lickit, come doon into yon how, +and we'll jist sattle aff han' wha's the best man o' the twa." + +"I won't move a step to please you or any one else," returned Bruce. He +saw that his safety consisted in keeping within sight of Annie. + +Curly saw on his part that, a few steps nearer to where Annie sat, the +path led behind a stunted ash-tree. So he stepped aside with the +proverb, + +"He that will to Coupar, maun to Coupar." + +Without deigning a word, Bruce walked on, full of pride, concluding +that Curly's heart had failed him. But the moment he was behind the +tree, Curly met him from the other side of it. Then Bruce's anger, if +not his courage, rose, and with an oath, he pushed against him to pass. +But the sensation he instantly felt in his nose astonished him; and the +blood beginning to flow cowed him at once. He put his handkerchief to +his face, turned, and walked back to Glamerton. Curly followed him at a +few yards' distance, regretting that he had showed the white feather so +soon, as, otherwise, he would have had the pleasure of thrashing him +properly. He saw him safe in at the back-door, and then went to his own +father's shop. + +After a short greeting, very short on Curly's part, + +"Hoot! Willie," said his father, "what's come ower ye? Ye luik as gin +some lass had said _na_ to ye." + +"Some lasses' _no_ 's better not ither lasses' _ay_, father." + +"Deed mnybe, laddie," said George; adding to himself, "That maun hae +been Annie Anderson�-nae ither." + +He was particularly attentive and yielding to Willie during his short +visit, and Willie understood it. + +Had Annie been compelled, by any evil chance, to return to the garret +over Robert Bruce's shop, she would not indeed have found the holes in +the floor and the roof reopened; but she would have found that the +carpet and the curtains were gone. + +The report went through Glamerton that she and Willie Macwha were +_coortin'_. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXXIII. + + +Thomas Crann's conversation with Mr Cupples deepened both his annoyance +and his grief at the membership of Robert Bruce. What was the use of a +church if such men as he got into it, and, having got in, could not be +got out? Had he been guilty of any open _fault_, such as getting drunk, +for one solitary and accidental instance of which they had excluded one +of their best and purest-minded men, they could have got rid of him +with comparative ease; but who so free of fault as Bruce? True, he was +guilty of the crime of over-reaching whenever he had a chance, and of +cheating when there was no risk of being found out�-at least so +everybody believed�-but he had no faults. The duty, therefore, that lay +upon every member, next to the cleanness of his own garments-�that of +keeping the church pure and unspotted�-was hard to fulfil, and no one +was ready to undertake it but Thomas Crann. For what a spot was here! +And Thomas knew his Lord's will. + +Neither was the duty so unpleasant to Thomas's oppositive nature, as it +would have been to a man of easier temperament. + +"Jeames Johnstone," he said, "the kirk maks nae progress. It's no as i' +the time o' the apostles whan the saved war added till't daily." + +"Weel, ye see," returned James, "that wasna _oor_ kirk exacly; and it +wasna Mr Turnbull that was the heid o' 't." + +"It's a' the same. The prenciple's the same. An' Mr Turnbull preaches +the same gospel Peter and Paul praiched, and wi' unction too. And yet +here's the congregation dwin'lin' awa', and the church itsel' like +naething but bees efter the brunstane. _I_ say there's an Ahchan i' the +camp�-a Jonah i' the vessel�-a son o' Saul i' the kingdom o' Dawvid�-a +Judas amo' the twal'�-a�-" + +"Hoots! Thomas Crann; ye're no pittin' a' thae gran' names upo' that +puir feckless body, Rob Bruce, are ye?" + +"He's nane feckless for the deevil's wark or for his ain, which is ae +thing and the same. Oot he maun gang, gin we tak' him by the scruff o' +the neck and the doup o' the breeks." + +"Dinna jeist, Thomas, aboot sic a dangerous thing," said James, mildly +glad of one solitary opportunity of rebuking the granite-minded mason. + +"Jeist! I'm far eneuch frae jeistin'. Ye dinna ken fervour frae jokin', +Jeames Johnstone." + +"He micht tak' the law upo's for defamin' o' 's character; and that wad +be an awfu' thing for puir fowk like us, Thamas." + +"Aye the same thing ower again, Jeames! Shy at a stane, and fa' into +the stank (ditch). That's the pairt o' a colt and no o' a Christian." + +"But arena we tellt to be wise as serpents?" + +"Ye wad tak' a heap o' tellin' upo' that heid, Jeames." + +"Ow, 'deed ay! And I'm no my lane, Thamas. But we _are_ tellt that." + +"The serpent turned oot an ill cooncellor upon ae occasion ower well to +be remembert by Adam's race." + +"The words stan' as I say," persisted James. + +"Ye're no to mak' the serpent yer cooncellor, man. But ance ye ken yer +duty, ye may weel tak example by him hoo to carry 't oot. Did ye ever +see an edder lyin' ower a stane as gin he was naething but a stick +himsel', bidin' 's time? That's me, i' the Scriptur' sense. I'm only +bidin' till I see hoo. A body maunna do ill that gude may come, though +wow! it's a sair temptation whiles; neither maun a body neglec to do +richt for fear that ill may follow." + +"Ay, true that. But ye needna burn the hoose to rid the rottans. I doot +ye'll get's a' into ower het water; and a body needna tak' the skin aff +for the sake o' cleanliness. Jist tak ye tent (care, attention), +Thamas, what ye're aboot." + +Having thus persisted in opposing Thomas to a degree he had never dared +before, James took his departure, pursued by the words: + +"Tak ye care, Jeames, that in savin' the richt han' ye dinna send the +haill body to hell. It was aye yer danger. I never got bauld coonsel +frae ye yet." + +"There's mair vertues i' the Bible nor courage, Thamas," retorted +James, holding the outer door open to throw the sentence in, and +shutting it instantly to escape with the last word. + +Thomas, abandoned to his own resources, meditated long and painfully. +But all he could arrive at was the resolution to have another talk with +Mr Cupples. He might not be a Christian man, but he was an honest and +trustworthy man, and might be able from his scholarship to give him +some counsel. So he walked to Howglen the next day, and found him with +Alec in the harvest-field. And Alec's reception of Thomas showed what a +fine thing illness is for bringing people to their right minds. + +Mr Cupples walked aside with Thomas, and they seated themselves on two +golden sheaves at the foot of a stook. + +"What ye said to me the ither day, sir," began Thomas, "has stucken +fest i' my crap, ever sin' syne. We maun hae him oot." + +"Na, na; ye better lat him sit. He'll haud doon yer pride. That man's a +judgment on ye for wantin' to be better nor yer neebors. Dinna try to +win free o' judgment. But I'll tell ye what I wad hae ye do: Mak muckle +o' 'm. Gie him tether eneuch. He'll gang frae ill to waur, ye may +depen'. He'll steal or a' be dune." + +"To the best o' my belief, sir, that's no to come, He's stolen already, +or I'm sair mista'en." + +"Ay! Can ye pruv that? That's anither maitter," returned Cupples, +beginning to be interested. + +"I dinna ken whether I oucht to hae mentioned it to ane that wasna a +member, though; but it jist cam oot o' 'tsel' like." + +"Sae the fac' that a man's a member wha's warst crime may be that he is +a member, maks him sic precious gear that he maunna be meddlet wi' i' +the presence o' an honest man, wha, thank God, has neither pairt nor +lot in ony sic maitter?" + +"Dinna be angry, Mr Cupples. I'll tell ye a' aboot it," pleaded Thomas, +than who no man could better recognize good sense. + +But the Cosmo Cupples who thus attracted the confidence of Thomas Crann +was a very different man from the Cosmo Cupples whom first Alec Forbes +went to the garret to see at his landlady's suggestion. All the +flabbiness had passed from his face, and his eyes shone clearer than +ever from a clear complexion. His mouth still gave a first impression +of unsteadiness; no longer, however, from the formlessness of the loose +lips, but from the continual flickering of a nascent smile that rippled +their outline with long wavy motions of evanescent humour. His dress +was still careless, but no longer neglected, and his hand was as steady +as a rifleman's. + +Nor had he found it so hard to conquer his fearful habit as even he had +expected; for with every week passed in bitter abstinence, some new +well would break from the rich soil of his intellect, and irrigate with +its sweet waters the parched border land between his physical and +psychical being. And when he had once again betaken himself to the +forsaken pen, there was little reason to fear a relapse or doubt a +final victory. A playful humanity radiated from him, the result of that +powerfullest of all restoratives�-_giving_ of what one has to him who +has not. Indeed his reformation had begun with this. St Paul taught a +thief to labour, that he might have to give: Love taught Mr Cupples to +deny himself that he might rescue his friend; and presently he had +found his feet touching the rock. If he had not yet learned to look +"straight up to heaven," his eyes wandered not unfrequently towards +that spiritual horizon upon which things earthly and things heavenly +meet and embrace. + +To such a Cosmo Cupples, then, Thomas told the story of Annie +Anderson's five-pound note. As he spoke, Cupples was tormented as with +the flitting phantom of a half-forgotten dream. All at once, light +flashed upon him. + +"And sae what am I to do?" asked Thomas as he finished his tale.�-"I +can pruv naething; but I'm certain i' my ain min', kennin' the man's +nater, that it was that note he tuik oot o' the Bible." + +"I'll put the proof o' that same into yer han's, or I'm sair mista'en," +said Mr Cupples. + +"You, Mr Cupples?" + +"Ay, me, Mr Crann. But maybe ye wadna tak proof frae sic a sinner +against sic a sanct. Sae ye may keep yer sanct i' yer holy boasom." + +"Dinna gang on that gait, Mr Cupples. Gin ye can direc' me to the +purification o' our wee bit temple, I'll hearken heumbly. I only wiss +ye war ane o' us." + +"I'll bide till ye hae gotten rid o' Bruce, ony gait.�-I care naething +for yer sma' separatist kirkies.-�I wonner ye dinna pray for a clippin' +o' an auld sun that ye micht do withoot the common daylicht. But I do +think it's a great shame�-that sic a sneak sud be i' the company o' +honest fowk, as I tak the maist o' ye to be. Sae I'll do my best. Ye'll +hear frae me in a day or twa." + +Cupples had remembered the inscription on the fly-leaf of the big +Bible, which, according to Thomas Crann, Mr Cowie had given to Annie. +He now went to James Dow. + +"Did Annie ever tell ye aboot a Bible that Mr Cowie ga'e her, Jeames?" + +"Ay did she. I min' 't fine." + +"Cud ye get a haud o' 't." + +"Eh! I dinna ken. The crater has laid his ain cleuks upo' 't. It's a +sod pity that Annie's oot o' the hoose, or she micht hae stown't +(stolen it)." + +"Truly, bein' her ain, she micht. But ye're a kin' o' a guairdian till +her�-arena ye?" + +"Ow! ay. I hae made mysel' that in a way; but Bruce wad aye be luikit +upon as the proper guairdian." + +"Hae ye ony haud upo' the siller?" + +"I gart him sign a lawyer's paper aboot it." + +"Weel, ye jist gang and demand the Bible, alang wi' the lave o' Annie's +property. Ye ken she's had trouble aboot her kist (chest), and canna +get it frae the swallowin' cratur'. And gin he maks ony demur, jist +drap a hint o' gaein to the lawyer aboot it. The like o' him's as fleyt +at a lawyer as cats at cauld water. Get the Bible we maun. And ye maun +fess't to me direckly." + +Dow was a peaceable man, and did not much relish the commission. +Cupples, thinking he too was a missionar, told him the story. + +"Weel," said Dow, "lat him sit there. Maybe they'll haud him frae doin' +mair mischeef. Whan ye jabble a stank, the stink rises." + +"I thocht ye was ane o' them. Ye maunna lat it oot." + +"Na, na. I a' haud my tongue." + +"_I_ care naething aboot it. But there's Thamas Crann jist eatin' his +ain hert. It's a sin to lat sic a man live in sic distress." + +"'Deed is't. He's a gude man that. And he's been verra kin' to oor +Annie, Mr Cupples,�-I'll do as ye say. Whan do ye want it?" + +"This verra nicht." + +So after his day's work, which was hard enough at this season of the +year, was over, James Dow put on his blue Sunday coat, and set off to +the town. He found Robert Bruce chaffering with a country girl over +some butter, for which he wanted to give her less than the +market-value. This roused his indignation, and put him in a much fitter +mood for an altercation. + +"I winna gie ye mair nor fivepence. Hoo are ye the day, Mr Doo? I tell +ye it has a goo (Fren. go�t) o' neeps or something waur." + +"Hoo can that be, Mr Bruce, at this sizzon o' the year, whan there's +plenty o' gerss for man an' beast an' a' cratur?" said the girl. + +"It's no for me to say hoo it can be. That's no my business. Noo, Mr +Doo?" + +Bruce, whose very life lay in driving bargains, had a great dislike to +any interruption of the process. Yet he forsook the girl as if he had +said all he had to say, and turned to James Dow. For he wanted to get +rid of him before concluding his bargain with the girl, whose butter he +was determined to have even if he must pay her own price for it. Like +the Reeve in the Canterbury Tales, who "ever rode the hinderest of the +rout," being such a rogue and such a rogue-catcher that he could not +bear anybody behind his back, Bruce, when about the business that his +soul loved, eschewed the presence of any third person. + +"Noo, Mr Doo?" he said. + +"My business'll keep," replied Dow. + +"But ye see we're busy the nicht, Mr Doo." + +"Weel, I dinna want to hurry ye. But I wonner that ye wad buy ill +butter, to please onybody, even a bonnie lass like that." + +"Some fowk likes the taste o' neeps, though I dinna like it mysel'," +answered Bruce. "But the fac' that neeps is no a favourite wi' the +maist o' fowk, brings doon the price i' the market." + +"Neeps is neither here nor there," said the girl; and taking up her +basket, she was going to leave the shop. + +"Bide a bit, my lass," cried Bruce. "The mistress wad like to see ye. +Jist gang benn the hoose to her wi' yer basket, and see what she thinks +o' the butter. I may be wrang, ye ken." + +So saying he opened the inner door, and ushered the young woman into +the kitchen. + +"Noo, Mr Doo?" he said once more. "Is't tobawco, or sneeshin (snuff), +or what is't?" + +"It's Annie Anderson's kist and a' her gear." + +"I'm surprised at ye, Jeames Doo. There's the lassie's room up the +stair, fit for ony princess, whanever she likes to come back till't. +But she was aye a royt (riotous) lassie, an' a reglar rintheroot." + +"Ye lee, Rob Bruce," exclaimed Dow, surprised out of his proprieties. +"Whaever ye say that till, dinna say't to me." + +Bruce was anything but a quarrelsome man with other than his inferiors. +He pocketed the lie very calmly. + +"Dinna lowse yer temper, Mr Doo. It's a sair fau't that." + +"Jist ye deliver up the bairn's effecks, or I'll gang to them that'll +gar ye." + +"Wha micht that be, Mr Doo?" asked Bruce, wishing first to find out how +far Dow was prepared to go. + +"Ye hae no richt whatever to keep that lassie's claes, as gin she aucht +(owed) you onything for rent." + +"Hae _ye_ ony richt to tak them awa'? Hoo ken I what'll come o' them?" + +"Weel, I s' awa' doon to Mr Gibb, and we'll see what can be dune there. +It's weel kent ower a' Glamerton, Mr Bruce, in what mainner you and yer +haill hoose hae borne yersels to that orphan lassie; and I'll gang into +ilka chop, as I gang doon the street, that is, whaur I'm acquant, and +I'll jist tell them whaur I'm gaun, and what for." + +The thing which beyond all others Bruce dreaded was unremunerative +notoriety. + +"Hoots! Jeames Doo, ye dinna ken jokin' frae jeistin'. I never was the +man to set mysel' i' the face o' onything rizzonable. But ye see it wad +be cast up to the haill o' 's that we had driven the puir lassie oot o' +the hoose, and syne flung her things efter her." + +"The tane ye hae dune. The tither ye shanna do, for I'll tak them. And +I'll tell ye what fowk'll say gin ye dinna gie up the things. They'll +say that ye baith drave her awa' and keepit her bit duds. I'll see to +that-�_and mair forbye_." + +Bruce understood that he referred to Annie's money. His object in +refusing to give up her box had been to retain as long as possible a +chance of persuading her to return to his house; for should she leave +it finally, her friends might demand the interest in money, which at +present he was bound to pay only in aliment and shelter, little of +either of which she required at his hands. But here was a greater +danger still. + +"Mother," he cried, "pit up Miss Anderson's claes in her box to gang +wi' the carrier the morn's mornin'." + +"I'll tak them wi' me," said Dow resolutely. + +"Ye canna. Ye haena a cairt." + +"Ye get them pitten up, and I'll fess a barrow," said James, leaving +the shop. + +He borrowed a wheelbarrow from Thomas Crann, and found the box ready +for him when he returned. The moment he lifted it, he was certain from +the weight of the poor little property that the Bible was not there. + +"Ye haena pitten in Mr Cooie's Bible." + +"Mother! did ye pit in the Bible?" cried Bruce, for the house-door was +open. + +"'Deed no, father. It's better whaur't is," said Mrs Bruce from the +kitchen, with shrill response. + +"Ye see, Mr Doo, the Bible's lain sae lang there, that it's jist oor +ain. And the lassie canna want it till she has a faimily to hae worship +wi'. And syne she s' be welcome to tak' it." + +"Ye gang up the stair for the buik, or I'll gang mysel'." + +Bruce went and fetched it, with a bad grace enough, and handed over +with it the last tattered remnants of his respectability into the hands +of James Dow. + +Mr Cupples, having made a translation of the inscription, took it to +Thomas Crann. + +"Do ye min' what Bruce read that nicht ye saw him tak' something oot o' +the beuk?" he asked as he entered. + +"Ay, weel that. He began wi' the twenty-third psalm, and gaed on to the +neist." + +"Weel, read that. I faun' 't on a blank leaf o' the buik." + +Thomas read�-'_Over the twenty-third psalm of David I have laid a +five-pound note for my dear Annie Anderson, after my death_,'�-and +lifting his eyes, stared at Mr Cupples, his face slowly brightening +with satisfaction. Then a cloud came over his brow�-for was he not +rejoicing in iniquity? At least he was rejoicing in coming shame. + +"Hoo cud it hae been," he asked after a brief pause, "that Bruce didna +fa' upo' this, as weel's you, Mr Cupples, or didna scart it oot?" + +"'Cause 'twas written in Latin. The body hadna the wit to misdoobt the +contents o' 't. It said naething _till_ him, and he never thoucht it +cud say onything _aboot_ him." + +"It's a fine thing to be a scholar, Mr Cupples." + +"Ay, whiles." + +"They say the Miss Cowies are great scholars." + +"Verra likly.�-But there's ae thing mair I wad put ye up till. Can ye +tell the day o' the month that ye gaed hame wi' yer prayin' frien'?" + +"It was the nicht o' a special prayer-meetin' for the state o' +Glamerton. I can fin' oot the date frae the kirk-buiks. What am I to do +wi' 't whan I hae't, sir?" + +"Gang to the bank the body deals wi', and spier whether a note beirin' +the nummer o' thae figures was paid intil 't upo' the Monday followin' +that Sunday, and wha paid it. They'll tell ye that at ance." + +But for various reasons, which it is needless to give in this history, +Thomas was compelled to postpone the execution of his project. And +Robert went on buying and selling and getting gain, all unaware of the +pit he had digged for himself. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXXIV. + + +One Sunday morning Mr Cupples was returning from church with Alec. + +"Ye likit the sermon the day, Mr Cupples." + +"What gars ye think that?" + +"I saw ye takin' notes a' the time." + +"Gleg-eed mole!" said Mr Cupples. "Luik at the notes as ye ca' them." + +"Eh! it's a sang!" exclaimed Alec with delight. + +"What cud gar ye think I likit sic havers? The crater was preachin' +till's ain shaidow. And he pat me into sic an unchristian temper o' +dislike to him and a' the concern, that I ran to my city o' refuge. I +never gang to the kirk wi'oot it�-I mean my pocket-buik. And I tried to +gie birth till a sang, the quhilk, like Jove, I conceived i' my heid +last nicht." + +"Lat me luik at it," said Alec, eagerly. + +"Na, ye wadna mak' either rhyme or rizzon o' 't as it stan's. I'll read +it to ye." + +"Come and sit doon, than, on the ither side o' the dyke." + +A dyke in Scotland is an earthen fence�-to my prejudiced mind, the +ideal of fences; because, for one thing, it never keeps anybody out. +And not to speak of the wild bees' bykes in them, with their +inexpressible honey, like that of Mount Hymettus�-to the recollection +of the man, at least�-they are covered with grass, and wild flowers +grow all about them, through which the wind harps and carps over your +head, filling your sense with the odours of a little modest yellow +tufty flower, for which I never heard a name in Scotland: the English +call it Ladies' Bedstraw. + +They got over the dyke into the field and sat down. + +"Ye see it's no lickit eneuch yet," said Mr Cupples, and began. + + "O lassie, ayont the hill! + Come ower the tap o' the hill; + Or roun' the neuk o' the hill; + For I want ye sair the night. + I'm needin' ye sair the nicht, + For I'm tired and sick o' mysel'. + A body's sel' 's the sairest weicht. + O lassie, come ower the hill. + + Gin a body cud be a thocht o' grace, + And no a sel' ava! + I'm sick o' my heid and my han's and my face, + And my thouchts and mysel' and a'. + I'm sick o' the warl' and a'; + The licht gangs by wi' a hiss; + For throu' my een the sunbeams fa', + But my weary hert they miss. + + O lassie, ayont the hill! + Come ower the tap o' the hill, + Or roun' the neuk o' the hill, + For I want ye sair the nicht. + + For gin ance I saw yer bonnie heid, + And the sunlicht o' yer hair, + The ghaist o' mysel' wad fa' doon deid, + And I'd be mysel' nae mair. + I wad be mysel' nae mair, + Filled o' the sole remeid, + Slain by the arrows o' licht frae yer hair, + Killed by yer body and heid. + O lassie, ayont the hill! &c. + + But gin ye lo'ed me, ever so sma' + For the sake o' my bonny dame, + Whan I cam' to life, as she gaed awa', + I could bide my body and name. + I micht bide mysel', the weary same, + Aye settin' up its heid, + Till I turn frae the claes that cover my frame, + As gin they war roun' the deid. + O lassie, ayont the hill! &c. + + But gin ye lo'ed me as I lo'e you, + I wad ring my ain deid knell; + My sel' wad vanish, shot through and through + By the shine o' your sunny sel'. + By the shine o' your sunny sel', + By the licht aneath your broo, + I wad dee to mysel', and ring my bell, + And only live in you. + + O lassie, ayont the hill! + Come ower the tap o' the hill, + Or roun' the neuk o' the hill, + For I want ye sair the night. + I'm needin' ye sair the nicht, + For I'm tired and sick o' mysel; + A body's sel' 's the sairest weicht! + O lassie, come ower the hill." + +"Isna it raither metapheesical, Mr Cupples?" asked Alec. + +"Ay is't. But fowk's metapheesical. True, they dinna aye ken't. I wad +to God I cud get that sel' o' mine safe aneath the yird, for it jist +torments the life oot o' me wi' its ugly face. Hit and me jist stan's +an' girns at ane anither." + +"It'll tak a heap o' Christianity to lay _that_ ghaist, Mr Cupples. +That I ken weel. The lassie wadna be able to do't for ye. It's ower +muckle to expec' o' her or ony mortal woman. For the sowl's a temple +biggit for the Holy Ghost, and no woman can fill't, war she the Virgin +Mary ower again. And till the Holy Ghost comes intil's ain hoose, the +ghaist that ye speak o' winna gang oot." + +A huge form towered above the dyke behind them. + +"Ye had no richt to hearken, Thomas Crann," said Mr Cupples. + +"I beg your pardon," returned Thomas; "I never thoucht o' that. The +soun' was sae bonnie, I jist stud and hearkened. I beg your +pardon.�-But that's no the richt thing for the Sawbath day." + +"But ye're haein' a walk yersel', it seems, Thomas." + +"Ay; but I'm gaun ower the hills to my school. An' I maunna bide to +claver wi' ye, for I hae a guid twa hoors' traivel afore me." + +"Come hame wi' us, and hae a mou'fu' o' denner afore ye gang, Thomas," +said Alec. + +"Na, I thank ye. It does the sowl gude to fast a wee ae day in saiven. +I had a piece, though, afore I cam' awa'. What am I braggin' o'! Gude +day to ye." + +"That's an honest man, Alec," said Cupples. + +"He is," returned Alec. "But he never will do as other people do." + +"Perhaps that's the source of his honesty�-that he walks by an inward +light," said Cupples thoughtfully. + +The year wore on. Alec grew confident. They returned together to their +old quarters. Alec passed his examinations triumphantly, and continued +his studies with greater vigour than before. Especially he walked the +hospitals with much attention and interest, ever warned by Cupples to +beware lest he should come to regard a man as a physical machine, and +so grow a mere doctoring machine himself. + +Mr Fraser declined seeing him. The old man was in a pitiable condition, +and indeed never lectured again. + +Alec no more frequented his old dismal haunt by the seashore. The cry +of the drowning girl would not have come to him as it would to the more +finely nervous constitution of Mr Cupples; but the cry of a sea-gull, +or the wash of the waves, or even the wind across the tops of the +sand-hills, would have been enough to make him see in every crest which +the wind tore white in the gloamin, the forlorn figure of the girl he +loved vanishing from his eyes. + +The more heartily he worked the more did the evil as well as the +painful portions of his history recede into the background of his +memory, growing more and more like the traces left by a bad, turbid, +and sorrowful dream. + +Is it true that _all_ our experiences will one day revive in entire +clearness of outline and full brilliancy of colour, passing before the +horror-struck soul to the denial of time, and the assertion of +ever-present eternity? If so, then God be with us, for we shall need +him. + +Annie Anderson's great-aunt took to her bed directly after her +husband's funeral. + +Finding there was much to do about the place, Annie felt no delicacy as +to remaining. She worked harder than ever she had worked before, +blistered her hands, and browned her fair face and neck altogether +autumnally. Her aunt and she together shore (reaped) the little field +of oats; got the sheaves home and made a rick of them; dug up the +potatoes, and covered them in a pit with a blanket of earth; looked +after the one cow and calf which gathered the grass along the road and +river sides; fed the pigs and the poultry, and even went with a +neighbour and his cart to the moss, to howk (dig) their winter-store of +peats. But this they found too hard for them, and were forced to give +up. Their neighbours, however, provided their fuel, as they had often +done in part for old John Peterson. + +Before the winter came there was little left to be done; and Annie saw +by her aunt's looks that she wanted to get rid of her. Margaret +Anderson had a chronic, consuming sense of poverty, and therefore +worshipped with her whole soul the monkey Lars of saving and vigilance. +Hence Annie, as soon as Alec was gone, went, with the simplicity +belonging to her childlike nature, to see Mrs Forbes, and returned to +Clippenstrae only to bid them good-bye. + +The bodily repose and mental activity of the winter formed a strong +contrast with her last experiences. But the rainy, foggy, frosty, snowy +months passed away much as they had done before, fostering, amongst +other hidden growths, that of Mrs Forbes' love for her semi-proteg�e, +whom, like Castor and Pollux, she took half the year to heaven, and +sent the other half to Tartarus. One notable event, however, of +considerable importance in its results to the people of Howglen, took +place this winter amongst the missionars of Glamerton. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXXV. + + +So entire was Thomas Crann's notion of discipline, that it could not be +satisfied with the mere riddance of Robert Bruce. Jealous, therefore, +of encroachment on the part of minister or deacons, and opposed by his +friend James Johnstone, he communicated his design to no one; for he +knew that the higher powers, anxious to avoid scandal wherever +possible, would, instead of putting the hypocrite to shame as he +deserved, merely send him a civil letter, requesting him to withdraw +from their communion. After watching for a fit opportunity, he resolved +at length to make his accusation against Robert Bruce in person at an +approaching church-meeting, at which, in consequence of the expected +discussion of the question of the proper frequency of the +administration of the sacrament, a full attendance of members might be +expected. + +They met in the chapel, which was partially lighted for the occasion. +The night was brilliant with frosty stars, as Thomas walked to the +rendezvous. He felt the vigour of the season in his yet unsubdued +limbs, but as he watched his breath curling in the frosty air, and then +vanishing in the night, he thought how the world itself would pass away +before the face of Him that sat on the great white throne; and how the +missionars of Glamerton would have nothing to say for themselves on +that day, if they did not purify themselves on this. From the faint +light of the stars he passed into the dull illumination of the tallow +candles, and took his place in silence behind their snuffer, who, +though half-witted, had yet shown intelligence and piety enough for +admission into the community. The church slowly gathered, and at length +Mr Turnbull appeared, supported by his deacons. + +After the usual preliminary devotions, in which Robert Bruce "engaged," +the business of the meeting was solemnly introduced. The only part +which Thomas Crann took in it was to expostulate with the +candle-snuffer, who being violently opposed to the wishes of the +minister, and not daring to speak, kept grumbling in no inaudible voice +at everything that came from that side of the house. + +"Hoot, Richard! it's Scriptur', ye ken," said Thomas, soothingly. + +"Scriptur' or no Scriptur', we're nae for't," growled Richard aloud, +and rising, gave vent to his excited feelings by snuffing out and +relighting every candle in its turn. + +At length the further discussion of the question was postponed to the +next meeting, and the minister was preparing to give out a hymn, when +Thomas Crann's voice arose in the dusky space. Mr Turnbull stopped to +listen, and there fell an expectant silence; for the stone-mason was +both reverenced and feared. It was too dark to see more than the dim +bulk of his figure, but he spoke with slow emphasis, and every word was +heard. + +"Brethren and office-beirers o' the church, it's upo' discipline that I +want to speak. Discipline is ane o' the main objecs for which a church +is gathered by the speerit o' God. And we maun work discipleen amo' +oorsels, or else the rod o' the Almichty'll come doon upon a' oor +backs. I winna haud ye frae particulars ony langer.�-Upon a certain +Sawbath nicht i' the last year, I gaed into Robert Bruce's hoose, to +hae worship wi' 'm.�-I'm gaein straucht and fair to the pint at ance. +Whan he opened the buik, I saw him slip something oot atween the leaves +o' 't, and crunkle 't up in 's han', luikin his greediest. Syne he read +the twenty-third and fourt psalms. I cudna help watchin' him, and whan +we gaed down upo' oor k-nees, I luikit roon efter him, and saw him pit +something intil's breek-pooch. Weel, it stack to me. Efterhin +(afterwards) I fand oot frae the lassie Annie Anderson, that the buik +was hers, that auld Mr Cooie had gien't till her upo' 's deith-bed, and +had tell't her forbye that he had pitten a five poun' note atween the +leaves o' 't, to be her ain in remembrance o' him, like. What say ye to +that, Robert Bruce?" + +"It's a' a lee," cried Robert, out of the dark back-ground under the +gallery, where he always placed himself at such meetings, "gotten up +atween yersel' and that ungratefu' cousin o' mine, Jeames Anderson's +lass, wha I hae keepit like ane o' my ain." + +Bruce had been sitting trembling; but when Thomas put the question, +believing that he had heard all that Thomas had to say, and that there +was no proof against him, he resolved at once to meet the accusation +with a stout denial. Whereupon Thomas resumed: + +"Ye hear him deny't. Weel, I hae seen the said Bible mysel'; and +there's this inscription upo' ane o' the blank leaves o' 't: 'Over the +twenty-third psalm o' David,'�-I tellt ye that he read that psalm that +night�-'Over the twenty-third psalm o' David, I hae laid a five poun' +note for my dear Annie Anderson, efter my deith!' Syne followed the +nummer o' the note, which I can shaw them that wants to see. Noo I hae +the banker's word for statin' that upo' the very Monday mornin' efter +that Sunday, Bruce paid into the bank a five poun' note o' that verra +indentical nummer. What say ye to that, Robert Bruce?" + +A silence followed. Thomas himself broke it with the words: + +"That money he oucht to hae supposed was Mr Cooie's, and returned it +till's dochters. But he pays't intil's ain accoont. Ca' ye na that a +breach o' the eicht commandment, Robert Bruce?" + +But now Robert Bruce rose. And he spoke with solemnity and pathos. + +"It's a sair thing, sirs, that amo' Christians, wha ca' themsel's a +chosen priesthood and a peculiar people, a jined member o' the same +church should meet wi' sic ill-guideship as I hae met wi' at the han's +o' Mr Crann. To say naething o' his no bein' ashamed to confess bein' +sic a heepocreet i' the sicht o' God as to luik aboot him upon his +knees, lyin' in wait for a man to do him hurt whan he pretendit to be +worshippin' wi' him afore the Lord his Maker, to say naething o' that +which I wadna hae expeckit o' him, he gangs aboot for auchteen months +contrivin' to bring that man to disgrace because he daurna mak' sic a +strong profession as he mak's himsel'. But the warst o' 't a' is, that +he beguiles a young thochtless bairn, wha has been the cause o' muckle +discomfort in oor hoose, to jine him i' the plot. It's true eneuch that +I took the bank-note frae the Bible, whilk was a verra unshuitable +place to put the unrichteous mammon intil, and min's me upo' the +money-changers i' the temple; and it's true that I paid it into the +bank the neist day�-" + +"What garred ye deny't, than?" interrupted Thomas. + +"Bide a wee, Mr Crann, and caw canny. Ye hae been hearkened till wi'oot +interruption, and I maun hae fair play here whatever I get frae +yersel'. I didna deny the fac. Wha could deny a fac? But I denied a' +the haill affair, i' the licht o' wickedness and thievin' that Mr Crann +was castin' upo' 't. _I_ saw that inscription and read it wi' my ain +een the verra day the lassie brocht the beuk, and kenned as weel's Mr +Crann that the siller wasna to be taen hame again. But I said to +mysel': "It'll turn the lassie's heid, and she'll jist fling't awa' in +murlocks (crumbs) upo' sweeties, and plunky, and sic like,' for she was +aye greedy, 'sae I'll jist pit it into the bank wi' my ain, and accoont +for't efterhin wi' the lave o' her bit siller whan I gie that up intil +her ain han's. Noo, Mr Crann!" + +He sat down, and Mr Turnbull rose. + +"My Christian brethren," he said, "it seems to me that this is not the +proper place to discuss such a question. It seems to me likewise +ill-judged of Mr Crann to make such an accusation in public against Mr +Bruce, who, I must say, has met it with a self-restraint and a +self-possession most creditable to him, and has answered it in a very +satisfactory manner. The hundredth psalm." + +"Hooly and fairly, sir!" exclaimed Thomas, forgetting his manners in +his eagerness. "I haena dune yet. And whaur wad be the place to discuss +sic a queston but afore a' meetin o' the church? Ca' ye that the +public, sir? Wasna the church institute for the sake o' discipleen? Sic +things are no to be ironed oot in a hole an' a corner, atween you and +the deycons, sir. They belang to the haill body. We're a' wranged +thegither, and the Holy Ghost, whase temple we sud be, is wranged +forby. You at least micht ken, sir, that he's withdrawn his presence +frae oor mids', and we are but a candle under a bushel, and not a city +set upon a hill. We beir no witness. And the cause o' his displeesur' +is the accursed thing which the Ahchan in oor camp has hidden i' the +Coonty Bank, forby mony ither causes that come hame to us a'. And the +warl' jist scoffs at oor profession o' religion, whan it sees sic a man +as that in oor mids'." + +"All this is nothing to the point, Mr Crann," said Mr Turnbull in +displeasure. + +"It's to the verra hert o' the pint," returned Thomas, equally +displeased. "Gin Robert Bruce saw the inscription the day the lassie +broucht hame the buik, will he tell me hoo it was that he cam' to lea' +the note i' the buik till that Sawbath nicht?" + +"I luikit for 't, but I cudna fin' 't, and thocht she had ta'en 't oot +upo' the road hame." + +"Cudna ye fin' the twenty-third psalm?�-But jist ae thing mair, Mr +Turnbull, and syne I'll haud my tongue," resumed Thomas.�-"Jeames +Johnstone, will ye rin ower to my hoose, and fess the Bible? It's lyin' +upo' the drawers. Ye canna mistak' it.�-Jist hae patience till he comes +back, sir, and we'll see hoo Mr Bruce'll read the inscription. I wad +hae made nothing o' 't, gin it hadna been for a frien' o' mine. But Mr +Bruce is a scholar, an' 'll read the Laitin till 's." + +By this time James Johnstone was across the street. + +"There's some foul play in this," cried Bruce, out of the darkness. "My +enemy maun sen' for an ootlandish speech and a heathen tongue to +insnare ane o' the brethren!" + +Profound silence followed. All sat expectant. The snuff of the candles +grew longer and longer. Even the energetic Richard, who had opposed the +Scripture single-handed, forgot his duty in the absorbing interest of +the moment. Every ear was listening for the footsteps of the returning +weaver, bringing the Bible of the parish-clergyman into the +half-unhallowed precincts of a conventicle. At a slight motion of one +of the doors, an audible start of expectation broke like an electric +spark from the still people. But nothing came of it. They had to wait +full five minutes yet before the messenger returned, bearing the large +volume in both hands in front of him. + +"Tak' the buik up to Mr Turnbull, Jeames, and snuff his can'les," said +Thomas. + +James took the snuffers, but Richard started up, snatched them from +him, and performed the operation himself with his usual success. + +The book being laid on the desk before Mr Turnbull, Thomas called out +into the back region of the chapel, + +"Noo, Robert Bruce, come foret, and fin' oot this inscription that ye +ken a' aboot sae weel, and read it to the church, that they may see +what a scholar they hae amo' them." + +But there was neither voice nor hearing. + +After a pause, Mr Turnbull spoke. + +"Mr Bruce, we're waiting for you," he said. "Do not be afraid. You +shall have justice." + +A dead silence followed the appeal. Presently some of those furthest +back�-they were women in hooded cloaks and _mutches_-�spoke in scarce +audible voices. + +"He's no here, sir. We canna see him," they said. + +The minister could not distinguish their words. + +"No here!" cried Thomas, who, deaf as he was, had heard them. "He was +here a minute ago! His conscience has spoken at last. He's fa'en doon, +like Ananias, i' the seat." + +Richard snatched a candle out of the candelabrum, and went to look. +Others followed similarly provided. They searched the pew where he had +been sitting, and the neighbouring pews, and the whole chapel, but he +was nowhere to be found. + +"That wad hae been him, whan I heard the door bang," they said to each +other at length. + +And so it was. For perceiving how he had committed himself, he had +slipped down in the pew, crawled on all fours to the door, and got out +of the place unsuspected. + +A formal sentence of expulsion was passed upon him by a show of hands, +and the word _Expelled_ was written against his name in the list of +church-members. + +"Thomas Crann, will you engage in prayer," said Mr Turnbull. + +"Na, nae the nicht," answered Thomas. "I'm like ane under the auld law +that had been buryin' the deid. I hae been doin' necessar' but foul +wark, and I'm defiled in consequence. I'm no in a richt speerit to pray +in public. I maun awa' hame to my prayers. I houp I mayna do something +mysel' afore lang that'll mak' it necessar' for ye to dismiss me neist. +But gin that time sud come, spare not, I beseech ye." + +So, after a short prayer from Mr Turnbull, the meeting separated in a +state of considerable excitement. Thomas half expected to hear of an +action for libel, but Robert knew better than venture upon that. +Besides, no damages could be got out of Thomas. + +When Bruce was once outside the chapel, he assumed the erect posture to +which his claim was entirely one of species, and went home by +circuitous ways. He found the shop still open, attended by his wife. + +"Preserve's, Robert! what's come ower ye?" she exclaimed. + +"I had sic a sair heid (headache), I was forced to come oot afore a' +was dune," he answered. "I dinna think I'll gang ony mair, for they +dinna conduc' things a'thegither to my likin'. I winna fash mair wi' +them." + +His wife looked at him anxiously, perhaps with some vague suspicion of +the truth; but she said nothing, and I do not believe the matter was +ever alluded to between them. The only indications remaining the next +day of what he had gone through that evening, consisted in an increase +of suavity towards his grown customers, and of acerbity towards the +children who were unfortunate enough to enter his shop. + +Of the two, however, perhaps Thomas Crann was the more unhappy as he +went home that night. He felt nothing of the elation which commonly +springs from success in a cherished project. He had been the promoter +and agent in the downfall of another man, and although the fall was a +just one, and it was better too for the man to be down than standing on +a false pedestal, Thomas could not help feeling the reaction of a +fellow-creature's humiliation. Now that the thing was done, and the end +gained, the eternal brotherhood asserted itself, and Thomas pitied +Bruce and mourned over him. He must be to him henceforth as a heathen +man and a publican, and he was sorry for him. "Ye see," he said to +himself, "it's no like a slip or a sin; but an evil disease cleaveth +fast unto him, and there's sma' chance o' him ever repentin' noo. +A'thing has been dune for him that can be dune." + +Yet Thomas worshipped a God, who, if the theories Thomas held were +correct, could at once, by the free gift of a Holy Spirit, generate +repentance in Bruce, and so make him fit for salvation; but who, Thomas +believed, would not do so�-at all events, _might_ not do so�-keeping +him alive for ever in howling unbelief instead. + +Scarcely any of the "members" henceforth saluted Bruce in the street. +None of them traded with him, except two or three who owed him a few +shillings, and could not pay him. And the modifying effect upon the +week's returns was very perceptible. This was the only form in which a +recognizable vengeance could have reached him. To escape from it, he +had serious thoughts of leaving the place, and setting up in some +remote village. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXXVI. + + +Notwithstanding Alec's diligence and the genial companionship of Mr +Cupples�-whether the death of Kate, or his own illness, or the reaction +of shame after his sojourn in the tents of wickedness, had opened dark +visions of the world of reality lying in awful _unknownness_ around the +life he seemed to know, I cannot tell,-�cold isolations would suddenly +seize upon him, wherein he would ask himself�-that oracular cave in +which one hears a thousand questions before one reply�-"What is the use +of it all�-this study and labour?" And he interpreted the silence to +mean: "Life is worthless. There is no glow in it�-only a glimmer and +shine at best."�-Will my readers set this condition down as one of +disease? If they do, I ask, "Why should a man be satisfied with +anything such as was now within the grasp of Alec Forbes?" And if they +reply that a higher ambition would have set him at peace if not at +rest, I only say that they would be nearer health if they had his +disease. Pain is not malady; it is the revelation of malady�-the +meeting and recoil between the unknown death and the unknown life; that +jar of the system whereby the fact becomes known to the man that he is +ill. There was disease in Alec, but the disease did not lie in his +dissatisfaction. It lay in that poverty of life with which those are +satisfied who call such discontent disease. Such disease is the first +flicker of the aurora of a rising health. + +This state of feeling, however, was only occasional; and a reviving +interest in anything belonging to his studies, or a merry talk with Mr +Cupples, would dispel it for a time, just as a breath of fine air will +give the sense of perfect health to one dying of consumption. + +But what made these questionings develope into the thorns of a more +definite self-condemnation�-the advanced guard sometimes of the roses +of peace-�was simply this: + +He had written to his mother for money to lay out upon superior +instruments, and new chemical apparatus; and his mother had replied +sadly that she was unable to send it. She hinted that his education had +cost more than she had expected. She told him that she was in debt to +Robert Bruce, and had of late been compelled to delay the payment of +its interest. She informed him also that, even under James Dow's +conscientious management, there seemed little ground for hoping that +the farm would ever make a return correspondent to the large outlay his +father had made upon it. + +This letter stung Alec to the heart. That his mother should be in the +power of such a man as Bruce, was bad enough; but that she should have +been exposed for his sake to the indignity of requesting his +forbearance, seemed unendurable. To despise the man was no +satisfaction, the right and the wrong being where they were.�-And what +proportion of the expenses of last session had gone to his +college-accounts? + +He wrote a humble letter to his mother�-and worked still harder. For +although he could not make a shilling at present, the future had hope +in it. + +Meantime Mr Cupples, in order that he might bear such outward signs of +inward grace as would appeal to the perceptions of the Senatus, got a +new hat, and changed his shabby tail-coat for a black frock. His shirt +ceased to be a hypothesis to account for his collar, and became a real +hypostasis, evident and clean. These signs of improvement led to +inquiries on the part of the Senatus, and the result was that, before +three months of the session were over, he was formally installed as +librarian. His first impulse on receiving the good news was to rush +down to Luckie Cumstie's and have a double-tumbler. But conscience was +too strong for Satan, and sent him home to his pipe�-which, it must be +confessed, he smoked twice as much as before his reformation. + +From the moment of his appointment, he seemed to regard the library as +his own private property, or, rather, as his own family. He was +grandfather to the books: at least a grandfather shows that combination +of parent and servant which comes nearest to the relation he henceforth +manifested towards them. Most of them he gave out graciously; some of +them grudgingly; a few of them with much reluctance; but all of them +with injunctions to care, and special warnings against forcing the +backs, crumpling or folding the leaves, and making thumb-marks. + +"Noo," he would say to some country bejan, "tak' the buik i' yer han's +no as gin 'twar a neip (turnip), but as gin 'twar the sowl o' a +new-born bairn. Min' ye it has to sair (serve) mony a generation efter +your banes lie bare i' the moul', an' ye maun hae respec' to them that +come efter ye, and no ill-guide their fare. I beg ye winna guddle't +(mangle it)." + +The bejans used to laugh at him in consequence. But long before they +were magistrands, the best of them had a profound respect for the +librarian. Not a few of them repaired to him with all their +difficulties; and such a general favourite was he, that any story of +his humour or oddity was sure to be received with a roar of loving +laughter. Indeed I doubt whether, within the course of a curriculum, Mr +Cupples had not become the real centre of intellectual and moral life +in that college. + +One evening, as he and Alec were sitting together speculating on the +speediest mode of turning Alec's acquirements to money-account, their +landlady entered. + +"Here's my cousin," she said, "Captain McTavish o' the _Sea-horse_, Mr +Forbes, wha says that afore lang he'll be wantin' a young doctor to +gang and haud the scurvy aff o' his men at the whaul-fishin'. Sae of +coorse I thoucht o' my ain first, and ran up the stair to you. It'll be +fifty poun' i' yer pooch, and a plenty o' rouch ploys that the like o' +you young fallows likes, though I canna say I wad like sic things +mysel'. Only I'm an auld wife, ye see, and that maks the differ." + +"Nae that auld, Mistress Leslie," said Cupples, "gin ye wadna lee." + +"Tell Captain McTavish that I'll gang," said Alec, who had hesitated no +longer than the time Mr Cupples took to say the word of kind flattery +to their landlady. + +"He'll want testimonials, ye ken." + +"Wadna _ye_ gie me ane, Mrs Leslie?" + +"'Deed wad I, gin 'twar o' ony accoont. Ye see, Mr Alec, the day's no +yesterday; and this session's no the last." + +"Haud yer tongue, and dinna rub a sair place," cried Mr Cupples. + +"I beg yer pardon," returned Mrs Leslie, submissively. + +Alec followed her down the stair. + +He soon returned, his eyes flashing with delight. Adventure! And fifty +pounds to take to his mother! + +"All right, Mr Cupples. The Captain has promised to take me if my +testimonials are satisfactory. I think they will give me good ones now. +If it weren't for you, I should have been lying in the gutter instead +of walking the quarter-deck." + +"Weel, weel, bantam. There's twa sides to maist obligations.�-I'm +leebrarian." + +The reader may remember that in his boyhood Alec was fond of the sea, +had rigged a flagstaff, and had built the _Bonnie Annie_. He was nearly +beside himself with delight, which continued unjarred until he heard +from his mother. She had too much good sense to make any opposition, +but she could not prevent her anticipations of loss and loneliness from +appearing. His mother's trouble quelled the exuberance of Alec's +spirits without altering his resolve. He would return to her in the +fall of the year, bringing with him what would ease her mind of half +its load. + +There was no check at the examinations this session. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXXVII. + + +Mrs Forbes was greatly perplexed about Annie. She could not bear the +thought of turning her out; and besides she did not see where she was +to go, for she could not be in the house with young Bruce. On the other +hand, she had still the same dangerous sense of worldly duty as to the +prevention of a so-called unsuitable match, the chance of which was +more threatening than ever. For Annie had grown very lovely, and having +taken captive the affections of the mother, must put the heart of the +son in dire jeopardy. But Alec arrived two days before he was expected, +and delivered his mother from her perplexity by declaring that if Annie +were sent away he too would leave the house. He had seen through the +maternal precautions the last time he was at home, and talking with +Cupples about it, who secretly wished for no better luck than that Alec +should fall in love with Annie, had his feelings strengthened as to the +unkindness, if not injustice, of throwing her periodically into such a +dungeon as the society of the Bruces. So Annie remained where she was, +much, I must confess, to her inward content. + +The youth and the maiden met every day�-the youth unembarrassed, and +the maiden reserved and shy, even to the satisfaction of the mother. +But if Alec could have seen the loving thoughts which, like threads of +heavenly gold (for all the gold of heaven is invisible), wrought +themselves into the garments she made for him, I do not think _he_ +could have helped falling in love with her, although most men, I fear, +would only have fallen the more in love with themselves, and cared the +less for her. But he did not see them, or hear the divine measures to +which her needle flew, as she laboured to arm him against the cold of +those regions + + Where all life dies, death lives, and nature breeds, + Perverse, all monstrous, all prodigious things. + +Alec's college-life had interposed a gulf between him and his previous +history. But his approaching departure into places unknown and a life +untried, operated upon his spiritual condition like the approach of +death; and he must strengthen again all the old bonds which had been +stretched thin by time and absence; he must make righteous atonement +for the wrong of neglect; in short, he must set his inward house in +order, ere he went forth to the abodes of ice. Death is not a breaker +but a renewer of ties. And if in view of death we gird up the loins of +our minds, and unite our hearts into a whole of love, and tenderness, +and atonement, and forgiveness, then Death himself cannot be that thing +of forlornness and loss. + +He took a day to go and see Curly, and spent a pleasant afternoon with +him, recalling the old times, and the old stories, and the old +companions; for the youth with the downy chin has a past as ancient as +that of the man with the gray beard. And Curly told him the story of +his encounter with young Bruce on the bank of the Wan Water. And over +and over again Annie's name came up, but Curly never hinted at her +secret. + +The next evening he went to see Thomas Crann. Thomas received him with +a cordiality amounting even to gruff tenderness. + +"I'm richt glaid to see ye," he said; "and I tak' it verra kin' o' ye, +wi' a' yer gran' learnin', to come and see an ignorant man like me. But +Alec, my man, there's some things 'at I ken better nor ye ken them yet. +Him that made the whauls is better worth seekin' nor the whauls +themsel's. God's works may swallow the man that follows them, but God +himsel' 's the hidin'-place frae the wind, and the covert frae the +tempest. Set na up nae fause God�-that's the thing 'at ye lo'e best, ye +ken�-for like Dawgon, it'll fa', and maybe brain ye i' the fa'. Come +doon upo' yer knees wi' me, and I'll pray for ye. But ye maun pray for +yersel', or my prayers winna be o' muckle avail: ye ken that." + +Yielding to the spiritual power of Thomas, whose gray-blue eyes were +flashing with fervour, Alec kneeled down as he was desired, and Thomas +said: + +"O thou who madest the whales to play i' the great watters, and gavest +unto men sic a need o' licht that they maun hunt the leviathan to haud +their lamps burnin' at nicht whan thou hast sent thy sun awa' to ither +lands, be thou roon' aboot this youth, wha surely is nae muckle waur +than him 'at the Saviour lo'ed; and when thou seest his ship gang +sailin' into the far north whaur thou keepest thy stores o' frost and +snaw ready to remin' men o' thy goodness by takin' the heat frae them +for a sizzon�-when thou seest his ship gaein far north, pit doon thy +finger, O Lord, and straik a track afore't, throu' amo' the hills o' +ice, that it may gang throu' in saf-ety, even as thy chosen people gaed +throu' the Reid Sea, and the river o' Jordan. For, Lord, we want him +hame again in thy good time. For he is the only son of his mother, and +she is a widow. But aboon a', O Lord, elec' him to thy grace and lat +him ken the glory o' God, even the licht o' thy coontenance. For me, +I'm a' thine, to live or dee, and I care not which. For I hae gotten +the gueed o' this warl'; and gin I binna ready for the neist, it's +because o' my sins, and no o' my savours. For I wad glaidle depairt and +be with the Lord. But this young man has never seen thy face; and, O +Lord, I'm jist feared that my coontenance micht fa' even in thy +kingdom, gin I kent that Alec Forbes was doon i' the ill place. Spare +him, O Lord, and gie him time for repentance gin he has a chance; but +gin he has nane, tak' him at ance, that his doom may be the lichter." + +Alec rose with a very serious face, and went home to his mother in a +mood more concordant with her feelings than the light-heartedness with +which he generally tried to laugh away her apprehensions. + +He even called on Robert Bruce, at his mother's request. It went +terribly against the grain with him though. He expected to find him +rude as of old, but he was, on the contrary, as pleasant as a man could +be whose only notion of politeness lay in _licking_. + +His civility came from two sources�-the one hope, the other fear. Alec +was going away and might never return. That was the hope. For although +Bruce had spread the report of Annie's engagement to Curly, he believed +that Alec was the real obstacle to his plans. At the same time he was +afraid of him, believing in his cowardly mind that Alec would not stop +short of personal reprisals if he should offend him; and now he was a +great six-foot fellow, of whose prowess at college confused and +exaggerated stories were floating about the town.�-Bruce was a man who +could hatch and cherish plans, keeping one in reserve behind the other, +and beholding their result from afar. + +"Ay! ay! Mr Forbes�-sae ye're gaun awa' amo' the train-ile, are ye? Hae +ye ony share i' the tak' no?" + +"I don't think the doctor has any share," answered Alec. + +"But I warran' ye'll put to yer han', and help at the catchin'." + +"Very likely." + +"Weel, gin ye come in for a barrel or twa, ye may coont upo' me to tak +it aff yer han', at the ordinar' price�-to the _wholesale_ merchan's, +ye ken�-wi' maybe a sma' discoont for orderin' 't afore the whaul was +ta'en." + +The day drew near. He had bidden all his friends farewell. He must go +just as the spring was coming in with the old well-beloved green borne +before her on the white banner of the snowdrop, and following in miles +of jubilation: he must not wait for her triumph, but speed away before +her towards the dreary north, which only a few of her hard-riding +pursuivants would ever reach. For green hills he must have opal-hued +bergs�-for green fields the outspread slaty waters, rolling in the +delight of their few weeks of glorious freedom, and mocking the +unwieldy ice-giants that rush in wind-driven troops across their +plains, or welter captive in the weary swell, and melt away beneath the +low summer sun. + +His mother would have gone to see him on board, but he prevailed upon +her to say good-bye to him at home. She kept her tears till after he +was gone. Annie bade him farewell with a pale face, and a smile that +was all sweetness and no gladness. She did not weep even afterwards. A +gentle cold hand pressed her heart down, so that neither blood reached +her face nor water her eyes. She went about everything just as before, +because it had to be done; but it seemed foolish to do anything. The +spring might as well stay away for any good that it promised either of +them. + +As Mr Cupples was taking his farewell on board, + +"Ye'll gang and see my mother?" said Alec. + +"Ay, ay, bantam; I'll do that.�-Noo tak care o' yersel; and dinna tak +leeberties wi' behemoth. Put a ring in's nose gin ye like, only haud +oot ower frae's tail. He's no mowse (not to be meddled with)." + +So away went Alec northwards, over the blue-gray waters, surgeon of the +strong barque _Sea-horse_. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXXVIII. + + +Two days after Alec's departure, Mr Bruce called at Howglen to see +Annie. + +"Hoo are ye, Mistress Forbes? Hoo are ye, Miss Anderson? I was jist +comin' ower the watter for a walk, and I thocht I micht as weel fess +the bit siller wi' me that I'm awin ye." + +Annie stared. She did not know what he meant. He explained. + +"It's weel on till a towmon (twelvemonth) that ye hae had neither bite +nor sup aneath my heumble riggin-tree (rooftree), and as that was the +upmak for the interest, I maun pay ye the tane seein' ye winna accep' +o' the tither. I hae jist brocht ye ten poun' to pit i' yer ain pooch +i' the meantime." + +Annie could hardly believe her ears. Could she be the rightful owner of +such untold wealth? Without giving her time to say anything, however, +Bruce went on, still holding in his hand the dirty bunch of one-pound +notes. + +"But I'm thinkin' the best way o' disposin' o' 't wad be to lat me put +it to the lave o' the prencipal. Sae I'll jist tak it to the bank as I +gang back. I canna gie ye onything for 't, 'cause that wad be brakin' +the law against compoon interest, but I can mak' it up some ither gait, +ye ken." + +But Annie had been too much pleased at the prospect of possession to +let the money go so easily. + +"I hae plenty o' ways o' spen'in' 't," she said, "withoot wastry. Sae +I'll jist tak' it mysel', and thank ye, Mr Bruce." + +She rose and took the notes from Bruce's unwilling hand. He was on the +point of replacing them in his trowsers-pocket and refusing to give +them up, when her promptitude rescued them. Discomfiture was manifest +in his reluctant eyes, and the little tug of retraction with which he +loosed his hold upon the notes. He went home mortified, and +poverty-stricken, but yet having gained a step towards a further end. + +Annie begged Mrs Forbes to take the money. + +"I have no use for it, ma'am. An old gown of yours makes as good a +frock for me as I can ever want to have." + +But Mrs Forbes would not even take charge of the money-�partly from the +pride of beneficence, partly from the fear of involving it in her own +straits. So that Annie, having provided herself with a few necessaries, +felt free to spend the rest as she would. How she longed for Tibbie +Dyster! But not having her, she went to Thomas Crann, and offered the +money to him. + +"'Deed no, lassie! I winna lay a finger upo' 't. Lay't by till ye want +it yersel'." + +"Dinna ye ken somebody that wants't mair nor me, Thomas?" + +Now Thomas had just been reading a few words spoken, according to +Matthew, the tax-gatherer, by the King of Men, declaring the perfection +of God to consist in his giving good things to all alike, whether they +love him or not. And when Annie asked the question, he remembered the +passage and Peter Peterson together. But he could not trust her to +follow her own instincts, and therefore went with her to see the poor +fellow, who was in a consumption, and would never drink any more. When +he saw his worn face, and the bones with hands at the ends of them, his +heart smote him that he had ever been harsh to him; and although he had +gone with the intention of rousing him to a sense of his danger beyond +the grave, he found that for very pity he could not open the prophetic +mouth. From self-accusation he took shelter behind Annie, saying to +himself: "Babes can best declare what's best revealed to them;" and +left Peter to her ministrations. + +A little money went far to make his last days comfortable; and ere she +had been visiting him for more than a month, he loved her so that he +was able to believe that God might love him, though he knew perfectly +(wherein perhaps his drunkenness had taught him more than the prayers +of many a pharisee) that he could not deserve it. + +This was the beginning of a new relation between Annie and the poor of +Glamerton. And the soul of the maiden grew and blossomed into divine +tenderness, for it was still more blessed to give than to receive. But +she was only allowed to taste of this blessedness, for she had soon to +learn that even giving itself must be given away cheerfully. + +After three months Bruce called again with the quarter's interest. +Before the next period arrived he had an interview with James Dow, to +whom he represented that, as he was now paying the interest down in +cash, he ought not to be exposed to the inconvenience of being called +upon at any moment to restore the principal, but should have the money +secured to him for ten years. After consultation, James Dow consented +to a three years' loan, beyond which he would not yield. Papers to this +effect were signed, and one quarter's interest more was placed in +Annie's willing hand. + +In the middle of summer Mr Cupples made his appearance, and was warmly +welcomed. He had at length completed the catalogue of the library, had +got the books arranged to his mind, and was brimful of enjoyment. He +ran about the fields like a child; gathered bunches of white clover; +made a great kite, and bought an unmeasureable length of string, with +which he flew it the first day the wind was worthy of the honour; got +out Alec's boat, and upset himself in the Glamour; was run away with by +one of the plough-horses in the attempt to ride him to the water; was +laughed at and loved by everybody about Howglen. At length, that is, in +about ten days, he began to settle down into sobriety of demeanour. The +first thing that sobered him was a hint of yellow upon a field of oats. +He began at once to go and see the people of Glamerton, and called upon +Thomas Crann first. + +He found him in one of his gloomy moods, which however were much less +frequent than they had been. + +"Hoo are ye, auld frien'?" said Cupples. + +"Auld as ye say, sir, and nae muckle farrer on nor whan I begud. I +whiles think I hae profited less than onybody I ken. But eh, sir, I wad +be sorry, gin I was you, to dee afore I had gotten a glimp o' the face +o' God." + +"Hoo ken ye that I haena gotten a glimp o' that same?" + +"Ye wad luik mair solemn like," answered Thomas. + +"Maybe I wad," responded Cupples, seriously. + +"Man, strive to get it. Gie Him no rist, day nor nicht, till ye get it. +Knock, knock, knock, till it be opened till ye." + +"Weel, Thomas, ye dinna seem sae happy yersel', efter a'. Dinna ye +think ye may be like ane that's tryin' to see the face o' whilk ye +speyk throu a crack i' the door, in place o' haein patience till it's +opened?" + +But the suggestion was quite lost upon Thomas, who, after a gloomy +pause, went on. + +"Sin's sic an awfu' thing," he began; when the door opened, and in +walked James Dow. + +His entrance did not interrupt Thomas, however. + +"Sin's sic an awfu' thing! And I hae sinned sae aften and sae lang, +that maybe He'll be forced efter a' to sen' me to the bottomless pit." + +"Hoot, hoot, Thamas! dinna speyk sic awfu' things," said Dow. "They're +dreadfu' to hearken till. I s' warran' He's as kin'-hertit as yersel." + +James had no reputation for piety, though much for truthfulness and +honesty. Nor had he any idea how much lay in the words he had hastily +uttered. A light-gleam grew and faded on Thomas's face. + +"I said, he micht be _forced_ to sen' me efter a'." + +"What, Thomas!" cried Cupples. "He _cudna_ save ye! Wi' the Son and the +Speerit to help him? And a willin' hert in you forbye? Fegs! ye hae a +greater opinion o' Sawtan nor I gied ye the discredit o'." + +"Na, na; it's nae Sawtan. It's mysel'. I wadna lay mair wyte (blame) +upo' Sawtan's shouthers nor's his ain. He has eneuch already, puir +fallow!" + +"Ye'll be o' auld Robbie Burns's opinion, that he 'aiblins micht still +hae a stake.'" + +"Na, na; he has nane. Burns was nae prophet." + +"But jist suppose, Thomas�-gin the de'il war to repent." + +"Man!" exclaimed the stonemason, rising to his full height with slow +labour after the day's toil, "it wad be cruel to gar _him_ repent. It +wad be ower sair upon him. Better kill him. The bitterness o' sic +repentance wad be ower terrible. It wad be mair nor he cud bide. It wad +brak his hert a'thegither.�-Na, na, he has nae chance." + +The last sentence was spoken quickly and with attempted carelessness as +he resumed his seat. + +"Hoo ken ye that?" asked Cupples. + +"There's no sic word i' the Scriptur'." + +"Do ye think He maun tell _us_ a' thing?" + +"We hae nae richt to think onything that He doesna tell's." + +"I'm nae sae sure o' that, Thomas. Maybe, whiles, he doesna tell's a +thing jist to gar's think aboot it, and be ready for the time whan he +will tell's." + +Thomas was silent for a few moments. Then with a smile-�rather a grim +one�-he said, + +"Here's a curious thing, no.�-There's neyther o' you convertit, and yet +yer words strenthen my hert as gin they cam frae the airt (region) +aboon." + +But his countenance changed, and he added hastily, + +"It's a mark o' indwellin' sin. To the law and to the testimony�-Gang +awa' and lat me to my prayers." + +They obeyed; for either they felt that nothing but his prayers would +do, or they were awed, and dared not remain. + +Mr Cupples could wait. Thomas could not. + +The Forlorn Hope of men must storm the walls of Heaven. + +Amongst those who sit down at the gate till one shall come and open it, +are to be found both the wise and the careless children. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXXIX. + + +Mr Cupples returned to his work, for the catalogue had to be printed. + +The weeks and months passed on, and the time drew nigh when it would be +no folly to watch the mail-coach in its pride of scarlet and gold, as +possibly bearing the welcome letter announcing Alec's return. At +length, one morning, Mrs Forbes said: + +"We may look for him every day now, Annie." + +She did not know with what a tender echo her words went roaming about +in Annie's bosom, awaking a thousand thought-birds in the twilight land +of memory, which had tucked their heads under their wings to sleep, and +thereby to live. + +But the days went on and the hope was deferred. The rush of the +_Sea-horse_ did not trouble the sands of the shallow bar, or sweep, +with fiercely ramping figure-head, past the long pier-spike, stretching +like the hand of welcome from the hospitable shore. While they fancied +her full-breasted sails, swelled as with sighs for home, bowing lordly +over the submissive waters, the _Sea-horse_ lay a frozen mass, changed +by the might of the winds and the snow and the frost into the grotesque +ice-gaunt phantom of a ship, through which, the winter long, the winds +would go whistling and raving, crowding upon it the snow and the +crystal icicles, all in the wild waste of the desert north, with no ear +to hear the sadness, and no eye to behold the deathly beauty. + +At length the hope deferred began to make the heart sick. Dim anxiety +passed into vague fear, and then deepened into dull conviction, over +which ever and anon flickered a pale ghostly hope, like the _fatuus_ +over the swamp that has swallowed the unwary wanderer. Each would find +the other wistfully watching to read any thought that might have +escaped the vigilance of its keeper, and come up from the dungeon of +the heart to air itself on the terraces of the face; and each would +drop the glance hurriedly, as if caught in a fault. But the moment came +when their meeting eyes were fixed and they burst into tears, each +accepting the other's confession of hopeless grief as the seal and +doom. + +I will not follow them through the slow shadows of gathering fate. I +will not record the fancies that tormented them, or describe the blank +that fell upon the duties of the day. I will not tell how, as the +winter drew on, they heard his voice calling in the storm for help, or +how through the snow-drifts they saw him plodding wearily home. His +mother forgot her debt, and ceased to care what became of herself. +Annie's anxiety settled into an earnest prayer that she might not rebel +against the will of God. + +But the anxiety of Thomas Crann was not limited to the earthly fate of +the lad. It extended to his fate in the other world�-too probably, in +his eyes, that endless, yearless, undivided fate, wherein the breath +still breathed into the soul of man by his Maker is no longer the +breath of life, but the breath of infinite death�- + + Sole Positive of Night, + Antipathist of Light, + +giving to the ideal darkness a real and individual hypostasis in +helpless humanity, keeping men alive that the light in them may +continue to be darkness. + +Terrible were his agonies in wrestling with God for the life of the +lad, and terrible his fear lest his own faith should fail him if his +prayers should not be heard. Alec Forbes was to Thomas Crann as it were +the representative of all his unsaved brothers and sisters of the human +race, for whose sakes he, like the apostle Paul, would have gladly +undergone what he dreaded for them. He went to see his mother; said +"Hoo are ye, mem?" sat down; never opened his lips, except to utter a +few commonplaces; rose and left her�-a little comforted. Nor can +anything but human sympathy alleviate the pain while it obscures not +the presence of human grief. Do not remind me that the divine is +better. I know it. But why?-�Because the divine is the highest�-the +creative human. The sympathy of the Lord himself is the more human that +it is divine. + +And in Annie's face, as she ministered to her friend, shone, +notwithstanding her full share in the sorrow, a light that came not +from sun or stars�-as it were a suppressed, waiting light. And Mrs +Forbes felt the holy influences that proceeded both from her and from +Thomas Crann. + +How much easier it is to bear a trouble that comes upon a trouble than +one that intrudes a death's head into the midst of a merry-making! Mrs +Forbes scarcely felt it a trouble when she received a note from Robert +Bruce informing her that, as he was on the point of removing to another +place which offered great advantages for the employment of the little +money he possessed, he would be obliged to her to pay as soon as +possible the hundred pounds she owed him, along with certain arrears of +interest specified. She wrote that it was impossible for her at +present, and forgot the whole affair. But within three days she +received a formal application for the debt from a new solicitor. To +this she paid no attention, just wondering what would come next. After +about three months a second application was made, according to legal +form; and in the month of May a third arrived, with the hint from the +lawyer that his client was now prepared to proceed to extremities; +whereupon she felt for the first time that she must do something. + +She sent for James Dow. + +"Are you going to the market to-day, James?" she asked. + +"'Deed am I, mem." + +"Well, be sure and go into one of the tents, and have a good dinner." + +"'Deed, mem, I'll do naething o' the sort. It's a sin and a shame to +waste gude siller upo' broth an' beef. I'll jist pit a piece +(of oatcake) in my pooch, and that'll fess me hame as well's a' their +kail. I can bide onything but wastrie." + +"It's very foolish of you, James." + +"It's yer pleesur to say sae, mem." + +"Well, tell me what to do about that." + +And she handed him the letter. + +James took it and read it slowly. Then he stared at his mistress. Then +he read it again. At length, with a bewildered look, he said, + +"Gin ye awe the siller, ye maun pay't, mem." + +"But I can't." + +"The Lord preserve's! What's to be dune? _I_ hae bit thirty poun' +hained (saved) up i' my kist. That wadna gang far." + +"No, no, James," returned his mistress. "I am not going to take your +money to pay Mr Bruce." + +"He's an awfu' cratur that, mem. He wad tak the win'in' sheet aff o' +the deid." + +"Well, I must see what can be done. I'll go and consult Mr Gibb." + +James took his leave, dejected on his mistress's account, and on his +own. As he went out, he met Annie. + +"Eh, Annie!" he said; "this is awfu'." + +"What's the matter, Dooie?" + +"That schochlin' (waddling, mean) cratur, Bruce, is mintin' +(threatening) at roupin' the mistress for a wheen siller she's aucht +him." + +"He daurna!" exclaimed Annie. + +"He'll daur onything but tyne (lose) siller. Eh! lassie, gin we hadna +len' 't him yours!" + +"I'll gang till him direcly. But dinna tell the mistress. She wadna +like it." + +"Na, na. I s' haud my tongue, I s' warran'.�-Ye're the best cratur ever +was born. She'll maybe perswaud the ill-faured tyke (dog)." + +Murmuring the last two sentences to himself, he walked away. When Annie +entered Bruce's shop, the big spider was unoccupied, and ready to +devour her. He put on therefore his most gracious reception. + +"Hoo are ye, Miss Anderson? I'm glaid to see ye. Come benn the hoose." + +"No, I thank ye. I want to speak to yersel', Mr Bruce. What's a' this +aboot Mrs Forbes and you?" + +"Grit fowk maunna ride ower the tap o' puir fowk like me, Miss +Anderson." + +"She's a widow, Mr Bruce"-�Annie could not add "and childless"�-"and +lays nae claim to be great fowk. It's no a Christian way o' treatin' +her." + +"Fowk _maun_ hae their ain. It's mine, and I maun hae't. There's +naething agen that i' the ten tables. There's nae gospel for no giein' +fowk their ain. I'm nae a missionar noo. I dinna haud wi' sic things. I +canna beggar my faimily to haud up her muckle hoose. She maun pay me, +or I'll tak' it." + +"Gin ye do, Mr Bruce, ye s' no hae my siller ae minute efter the time's +up; and I'm sorry ye hae't till than." + +"That's neither here nor there. Ye wad be wantin' 't or that time ony +hoo." + +Now Bruce had given up the notion of leaving Glamerton, for he had +found that the patronage of the missionars in grocery was not essential +to a certain measure of success; and he had no intention of proceeding +to an auction of Mrs Forbes's goods, for he saw that would put him in a +worse position with the public than any amount of quiet practice in +lying and stealing. But there was every likelihood of Annie's being +married some day; and then her money would be recalled, and he would be +left without the capital necessary for carrying on his business upon +the same enlarged scale�-seeing he now supplied many of the little +country shops. It would be a grand move then, if, by a far-sighted +generalship, a careful copying of the example of his great ancestor, he +could get a permanent hold of some of Annie's property.�-Hence had come +the descent upon Mrs Forbes, and here came its success. + +"Ye s' hae as muckle o' mine to yer nainsel' as'll clear Mrs Forbes," +said Annie. + +"Weel. Verra weel.�-But ye see that's mine for twa year and a half ony +gait. That wad only amunt to losin' her interest for twa year an' a +half�-a'thegither. That winna do." + +"What will do, than, Mr Bruce?" + +"I dinna ken. I want my ain." + +"But ye maunna torment her, Mr Bruce. Ye ken that." + +"Weel! I'm open to onything rizzonable. There's the enterest for twa +an' a half�-ca' 't three years�-at what I could mak' o' 't�-say aucht +per cent�-four and twenty poun'. Syne there's her arrears o' +interest�-and syne there's the loss o' the ower-turn�-and syne there's +the loss o' the siller that ye winna hae to len' me.�-Gin ye gie me a +quittance for a hunner an' fifty poun', I'll gie her a receipt.�-It'll +be a sair loss to me!" + +"Onything ye like," said Annie. + +And Bruce brought out papers already written by his lawyer, one of +which he signed and the other she. + +"Ye'll min'," he added, as she was leaving the shop, "that I hae to pay +ye no interest noo excep' upo' fifty poun'?" + +He had paid her nothing for the last half year at least. + +He would not have dared to fleece the girl thus, had she had any +legally constituted guardians; or had those who would gladly have +interfered, had power to protect her. But he took care so to word the +quittance, that in the event of any thing going wrong, he might yet +claim his hundred pounds from Mrs Forbes. + +Annie read over the receipt, and saw that she had involved herself in a +difficulty. How would Mrs Forbes take it? She begged Bruce not to tell +her, and he was ready enough to consent. He did more. He wrote to Mrs +Forbes to the effect that, upon reflection, he had resolved to drop +further proceedings for the present; and when she carried him a +half-year's interest, he took it in silence, justifying himself on the +ground that the whole transaction was of doubtful success, and he must +therefore secure what he could secure. + +As may well be supposed, Annie had very little money to give away now; +and this subjected her to a quite new sense of suffering. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XC. + + +It was a dreary wintry summer to all at Howglen. Why should the ripe +corn wave deep-dyed in the gold of the sunbeams, when Alec lay frozen +in the fields of ice, or sweeping about under them like a broken +sea-weed in the waters so cold, so mournful? Yet the work of the world +must go on. The corn must be reaped. Things must be bought and sold. +Even the mourners must eat and drink. The stains which the day had +gathered must be washed from the brow of the morning; and the dust to +which Alec had gone down must be swept from the chair in which he had +been wont to sit. So things did go on�-of themselves as it were, for no +one cared much about them, although it was the finest harvest that year +that Howglen had ever borne. It had begun at length to appear that the +old labour had not been cast into a dead grave, but into a living soil, +like that of which Sir Philip Sidney says in his sixty-fifth psalm: + + "Each clodd relenteth at thy dressing," + +as if it were a human soul that had bethought itself and began to bring +forth fruit.�-This might be the beginning of good things. But what did +it matter? + +Annie grew paler, but relaxed not a single effort to fill her place. +She told her poor friends that she had no money now, and could not help +them; but most were nearly as glad to see her as before; while one of +them who had never liked receiving alms from a girl in such a lowly +position, as well as some who had always taken them thankfully, loved +her better when she had nothing to give. + +She renewed her acquaintance with Peter Whaup, the blacksmith, through +his wife, who was ill, and received her visits gladly. + +"For," she said, "she's a fine douce lass, and speyks to ye as gin ye +war ither fowk, and no as gin she kent a'thing, and cam to tell ye the +muckle half o' 't." + +I wonder how much her friends understood of what she read to them? She +did not confine herself to the Bible, which indeed she was a little shy +of reading except they wanted it, but read anything that pleased +herself, never doubting that "ither fowk" could enjoy what she enjoyed. +She even tried the _Paradise Lost_ upon Mrs Whaup, as she had tried it +long ago upon Tibbie Dyster; and Mrs Whaup never seemed tired of +listening to it. I daresay she understood about as much of it as poets +do of the celestial harmonies ever toning around them. + +And Peter Whaup was once known, when more than half drunk, to stop his +swearing in mid-volley, simply because he had caught a glimpse of Annie +at the other end of the street. + +So the maiden grew in favour. Her beauty, both inward and outward, was +that of the twilight, of a morning cloudy with high clouds, or of a +silvery sea: it was a spiritual beauty for the most part. And her +sorrow gave a quiet grace to her demeanour, peacefully ripening it into +what is loveliest in ladyhood. She always looked like one +waiting�-sometimes like one listening, as she waited, to "melodies +unheard." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XCI. + + +One night, in the end of October, James Dow was walking by the side of +his cart along a lonely road, through a peat-moss, on his way to the +nearest sea-port for a load of coals. The moon was high and full. He +was approaching a solitary milestone in the midst of the moss. It was +the loneliest place. Low swells of peat-ground, the burial places of +old forests, rolled away on every side, with, here and there, patches +of the white-bearded canna-down, or cotton-grass, glimmering doubtfully +as the Wind woke and turned himself on the wide space, where he found +nothing to puff at but those same little old fairies sunning their +hoary beards in the strange moon. As Dow drew near to the milestone he +saw an odd-looking figure seated upon it. He was about to ask him if he +would like a lift, when the figure rose, and cried joyfully, + +"Jamie Doo!" + +James Dow staggered back, and was nearly thrown down by the +slow-rolling wheel; for the voice was Alec Forbes's. He gasped for +breath, and felt as if he were recovering from a sudden stroke of +paralysis, during which everything about him had passed away and a new +order come in. All that he was capable of was to cry _wo!_ to his +horse. + +There stood Alec, in rags, with a face thin but brown�-healthy, bold, +and firm. He looked ten years older standing there in the moonlight. + +"The Lord preserve's!" cried Dow, and could say no more. + +"He has preserved me, ye see, Jeamie. Hoo's my mother?" + +"She's brawly, brawly, Mr Alec. The Lord preserve's! She's been +terrible aboot ye. Ye maunna gang in upo' her. It wad kill her." + +"I hae a grainy sense left, Jeamie. But I'm awfu' tired. Ye maun jist +turn yer cairt and tak' me hame. I'll be worth a lade o' coal to my +mither ony gait. An' syne ye can brak it till her." + +Without another word, Dow turned his horse, helped Alec into the cart, +covered him with his coat and some straw, and strode away beside, not +knowing whether he was walking in a dream, or in a real starry night. +Alec fell fast asleep, and never waked till the cart stood still, about +midnight, at his mother's door. He started up. + +"Lie still, Mr Alec," said Dow, in a whisper. "The mistress 'll be in +her bed. And gin ye gang in upo' her that gait, ye'll drive her daft." + +Alec lay down again, and Dow went to Mary's window, on the other side, +to try to wake her. But just as he returned, Alec heard his mother's +window open. + +"Who's there?" she called. + +"Naebody but me, Jeamie Doo," answered James. "I was half-gaits to +Portlokie, whan I had a mishap upo' the road. Bettie pat her fit upon a +sharp stane, and fell doon, and bruik baith her legs." + +"How did she come home then?" + +"She bude to come hame, mem." + +"Broke her legs!" + +"Hoot, mem�-her k-nees. I dinna mean the banes, ye ken, mem; only the +skin. But she wasna fit to gang on. And sae I brocht her back." + +"What's that i' the cairt? Is't onything deid?" + +"Na, mem, de'il a bit o' 't! It's livin' eneuch. It's a stranger lad +that I gae a lift till upo' the road. He's fell tired." + +But Dow's voice trembled, or�-or something or other revealed all to the +mother's heart. She gave a great cry. Alec sprung from the cart, rushed +into the house, and was in his mother's arms. + +Annie was asleep in the next room, but she half awoke with a sense of +his presence. She had heard his voice through the folds of sleep. And +she thought she was lying on the rug before the dining-room fire, with +Alec and his mother at the tea-table, as on that night when he brought +her in from the snow-hut. Finding out confusedly that the supposition +did not correspond with some other vague consciousness, she supposed +next that she "had died in sleep and was a blessed ghost," just going +to find Alec in heaven. That was abandoned in its turn, and all at once +she knew that she was in her own bed, and that Alec and his mother were +talking in the next room. + +She rose, but could hardly dress herself for trembling. When she was +dressed she sat down on the edge of the bed to bethink herself. + +The joy was almost torture, but it had a certain qualifying bitter in +it. Ever since she had believed him dead, Alec had been so near to her! +She had loved him as much as ever she would. But Life had come in +suddenly, and divided those whom Death had joined. Now he was a great +way off; and she dared not speak to him whom she had cherished in her +heart. Modesty took the telescope from the hands of Love, and turning +it, put the larger end to Annie's eye. Ever since her confession to +Curly, she had been making fresh discoveries in her own heart; and now +the tide of her love swelled so strong that she felt it must break out +in an agony of joy, and betray her if once she looked in the face of +Alec alive from the dead. Nor was this all. What she had done about his +mother's debt, must come out soon; and although Alec could not think +that she meant to lay him under obligation, he might yet feel under +obligation, and that she could not bear. These things and many more so +worked in the sensitive maiden that as soon as she heard Alec and his +mother go to the dining-room she put on her bonnet and cloak, stole +like a thief through the house to the back door, and let herself out +into the night. + +She avoided the path, and went through the hedge into a field of +stubble at the back of the house across which she made her way to the +turnpike road and the new bridge over the Glamour. Often she turned to +look back to the window of the room where he that had been dead was +alive and talking with his widowed mother; and only when the +intervening trees hid it from her sight did she begin to think what she +should do. She could think of nothing but to go to her aunt once more, +and ask her to take her in for a few days. So she walked on through the +sleeping town. + +Not a soul was awake, and the stillness was awful. It was a place of +tombs. And those tombs were haunted by dreams. Away towards the west, +the moon lay on the steep-sloping edge of a rugged cloud, appearing to +have rolled half-way down from its lofty peak, and about to be launched +off its baseless bulk into + + "the empty, vast, and wandering air." + +In the middle of the large square of the little gray town she stood and +looked around her. All one side lay in shade; the greater part of the +other three lay in moonlight. The old growth of centuries, gables and +fronts�-stepping out into the light, retreating into the +shadow�-outside stairs and dark gateways, stood up in the night warding +a townful of sleepers. Not one would be awake now. Ah yes! there was +light in the wool-carder's window. His wife was dying. That light over +the dying, wiped the death-look from the face of the sleeping town, +Annie roused herself and passed on, fearing to be seen. It was the only +thing to be afraid of. But the stillness was awful. One silence only +could be more awful: the same silence at noon-day. + +So she passed into the western road and through the trees to the bridge +over the Wan Water. They stood so still in the moonlight! And the smell +from the withering fields laid bare of the harvest and breathing out +their damp odours, came to her mixed with the chill air from the dark +hills around, already spiced with keen atoms of frost, soon to appear +in spangly spikes. Beneath the bridge the river flowed maunderingly, +blundering out unintelligible news of its parent bog and all the dreary +places it had come through on its way to the strath of Glamerton, which +nobody listened to but one glad-hearted, puzzle-brained girl, who stood +looking down into it from the bridge when she ought to have been in bed +and asleep. She was not far from Clippenstrae, but she could not go +there so early, for her aunt would be frightened first and angry next. +So she wandered up the stream to the old church-forsaken churchyard, +and sat on one of the tombstones. It became very cold as the morning +drew on. The moon went down; the stars grew dim; the river ran with a +livelier murmur; and through all the fine gradations of dawn-�cloudy +wind and grey sky�-the gates of orange and red burst open, and the sun +came forth rejoicing. The long night was over. It had not been a very +weary one; for Annie had thoughts of her own, and like the earth in the +warm summer nights, could shine and flash up through the dark, seeking +the face of God in the altar-flame of prayer. Yet she was glad when the +sun came. With the first bubble of the spring of light bursting out on +the hill-top, she rose and walked through the long shadows of the +graves down to the river and through the long shadows of the stubble +down the side of the river, which shone in the morning light like a +flowing crystal of delicate brown-�and so to Clippenstrae, where she +found her aunt still in her night-cap. She was standing at the door, +however, shading her eyes with her hand, looking abroad as if for some +one that might be crossing hitherward from the east. She did not see +Annie approaching from the north. + +"What are ye luikin' for, auntie?" + +"Naething. Nae for you, ony gait, lassie." + +"Weel, ye see, I'm come ohn luikit for. But ye was luikin' for +somebody, auntie." + +"Na. I was only jist luikin'." + +Even Annie did not then know that it was the soul's hunger, the vague +sense of a need which nothing but the God of human faces, the God of +the morning and of the starful night, the God of love and +self-forgetfulness, can satisfy, that sent her money-loving, +poverty-stricken, pining, grumbling old aunt out staring towards the +east. It is this formless idea of something at hand that keeps men and +women striving to tear from the bosom of the world the secret of their +own hopes. How little they know what they look for in reality is their +God! This is that for which their heart and their flesh cry out. + +Lead, lead me on, my Hopes. I know that ye are true and not vain. +Vanish from my eyes day after day, but arise in new forms. I will +follow your holy deception;�-follow till ye have brought me to the feet +of my Father in Heaven, where I shall find you all with folded wings +spangling the sapphire dusk whereon stands His throne, which is our +home. + +"What do ye want sae ear's this, Annie Anderson?" + +Margaret's first thought was always�-"What can the body be wantin'?" + +"I want ye to tak' me in for a while," answered Annie. + +"For an hoor or twa? Ow ay." + +"Na. For a week or twa maybe." + +"'Deed no. I'll do naething o' the kin', Lat them 'at made ye prood, +keep ye prood." + +"I'm nae prood, auntie. What gars ye say that?" + +"Sae prood 'at ye wadna tak' a gude offer whan it was i' yer pooer. And +syne they turn ye oot whan it shuits themsels. Gentle fowks is sair +misca'd (misnamed). I'm no gaein' to tak' ye in. There's Dawvid Gordon +wants a lass. Ye can jist gang till a place like ither fowk." + +"I'll gang and luik efter 't direckly. Hoo far is't, Auntie?" + +"Gaein' and giein' awa' yer siller to beggars as gin 't war stew +(dust), jist to be a gran' lady! Ye're nane sae gran', _I_ can tell ye. +An' syne comin' to puir fowk like me to tak' ye in for a week or twa! +Weel I wat!" + +Auntie had been listening to evil tongues�-so much easier to listen to +than just tongues. With difficulty Annie kept back her tears. She made +no defence; tried to eat the porridge which her aunt set before her; +and departed. Before three hours were over, she had the charge of the +dairy and cooking at Willowcraig for the next six months of coming +winter and spring. Protected from suspicion, her spirits rose all the +cheerier for their temporary depression, and she went singing about the +house like a _lintie_. + +"As she did not appear at breakfast, and was absent from the +dinner-table as well, Mrs Forbes set out with Alec to inquire after +her, and not knowing where else to go first, betook herself to Robert +Bruce. He showed more surprise than pleasure at seeing Alec, smiling +with his own acridness as he said, + +"I doobt ye haena brocht hame that barrel o' ile ye promised me, Mr +Alec? It wad hae cleared aff a guid sheave o' yer mither's debts." + +Alec answered cheerily, although his face flushed, + +"All in good time, I hope, Mr Bruce. I'm obliged to you for your +forbearance, though." + +He was too solemn-glad to be angry. + +"It canna laist for ever, ye ken," rejoined Bruce, happy to be able to +bite, although his poison-bag was gone. + +Alec made no reply. + +"Have you seen Annie Anderson to-day, Mr Bruce?" asked his mother. + +"'Deed no, mem. She doesna aften trouble huz wi' her company. We're no +gran' eneuch for her." + +"Hasn't she been here to-day?" repeated Mrs Forbes, with discomposure +in her look and tone. + +"Hae ye tint her, mem?" rejoined Bruce. "That _is_ a peety. She'll be +awa' wi' that vaigabone, Willie Macwha. He was i' the toon last nicht. +I saw him gang by wi' Baubie Peterson." + +They made him no reply, understanding well enough that though the one +premise might be true, the conclusion must be as false as it was +illogical and spiteful. They did not go to George Macwha's, but set out +for Clippenstrae. When they reached the cottage, they found Meg's nose +in full vigour. + +"Na. She's no here. What for sud she be here? She has no claim upo' me, +although it pleases you to turn her oot-�efter bringin' her up to +notions that hae jist ruined her wi' pride." + +"Indeed I didn't turn her out, Miss Anderson." + +"Weel, ye sud never hae taen her in." + +There was something in her manner which made them certain she knew +where Annie was; but as she avoided every attempt to draw her into the +admission, they departed foiled, although relieved. She knew well +enough that Annie's refuge could not long remain concealed, but she +found it pleasant to annoy Mrs Forbes. + +And not many days passed before Mrs Forbes did learn where Annie was. +But she was so taken up with her son, that weeks even passed before +that part of her nature which needed a daughter's love began to assert +itself again, and turn longingly towards her all but adopted child. + +Alec went away once more to the great town. He had certain remnants of +study to gather up at the university, and a certain experience to go +through in the preparation of drugs, without which he could not obtain +his surgeon's diploma. The good harvest would by and by put a little +money in his mother's hands, and the sooner he was ready to practise +the better. + +The very day after he went, Mrs Forbes drove to Willowcraig to see +Annie. She found her short-coated and short-wrappered, like any other +girl at a farmhouse. Annie was rather embarrassed at the sight of her +friend. Mrs Forbes could easily see, however, that there was no breach +in her affection towards her. Yet it must be confessed that having +regard to the final return of her son, she was quite as well pleased to +know that she was bound to remain where she was for some time to come. + +She found the winter very dreary without her, though. + + + + + + +CHARTER XCII. + + +Finding herself in good quarters, Annie re-engaged herself at the end +of the half-year. She had spent the winter in house work, combined with +the feeding of pigs and poultry, and partial ministrations to the wants +of the cows, of which she had milked the few continuing to give milk +upon turnips and straw, and made the best of their scanty supply for +the use of the household. There was no hardship in her present life. +She had plenty of wholesome food to eat, and she lay warm at night. The +old farmer, who was rather overbearing with his men, was kind to her +because he liked her; and the guidwife was a sonsy (well conditioned) +dame, who, when she scolded, never meant anything by it. + +She cherished her love for Alec, but was quite peaceful as to the +future. How she might have felt had she heard that he was going to be +married, I cannot take upon me to say. + +When her work was done, she would go out for a lonely walk, without +asking leave or giving offence, indulging in the same lawlessness as +before, and seeming incapable of being restrained by other bonds than +those of duty. + +And now the month of April was nearly over, and the primroses were +_glintin'_ on the braes. + +One evening she went out bare-headed to look how a certain den, wont to +be haunted by wild-flowers and singing-birds, was getting on towards +its complement of summer pleasures. As she was climbing over a fence, a +horseman came round the corner of the road. She saw at a glance that it +was Alec, and got down again. + +Change had passed upon both since they parted. He was a full-grown man +with a settled look. She was a lovely woman, even more delicate and +graceful than her childhood had promised. + +As she got down from the fence, he got down from his horse. Without a +word on either side, their hands joined, and still they stood silent +for a minute, Annie with her eyes on the ground, Alec gazing in her +face, which was pale with more than its usual paleness. + +"I saw Curly yesterday," said Alec at length, with what seemed to Annie +a meaning look. + +Her face flushed as red as fire.�-Could Curly have betrayed her? + +She managed to stammer out, + +"Oh! Did you? + +And then silence fell again. + +"Eh! Alec," she said at length, taking up the conversation, in her +turn, "we thought we would never see ye again." + +"I thought so too," answered Alec, "when the great berg came down on us +through the snow-storm, and flung the barque upon the floe with her +side crushed in.�-How I used to dream about the old school-days, Annie, +and finding you in my hut!-�And I did find you in the snow, Annie." + +But a figure came round the other corner�-for the road made a double +sweep at this point�-and cried�- + +"Annie, come hame direcly. Ye're wantit." + +"I'm coming to see you again soon, Annie," said Alec. "But I must go +away for a mouth or two first." + +Annie replied with a smile and an outstretched hand�-nothing more. She +could wait well enough. + +How lovely the flowers in the dyke-sides looked as she followed Mrs +Gordon home! But the thought that perhaps Curly had told him something +was like the serpent under them. Yet somehow she had got so beautiful +before she reached the house, that her aunt, who had come to see her, +called out, + +"Losh! lassie! What hae ye been aboot? Ye hae a colour by ordinar'." + +"That's easy accoontet for," said her mistress roguishly. "She was +stan'in' killoguin wi' a bonnie young lad an' a horse. I winna hae sic +doin's aboot my hoose, I can tell ye, lass." + +Margaret Anderson flew into a passion, and abused her with many words, +which Annie, so far from resenting, scarcely even heard. At length she +ceased, and departed almost without an adieu. But what did it +matter?-�What did any earthly thing matter, if only Curly had not told +him? + +Now, all that Curly had told Alec was that Annie was not engaged to +him. + +So the days and nights passed, and Spring, the girl, changed into +Summer, the woman; and still Alec did not come. + +One evening, when a wind that blew from the west, and seemed to smell +of the roses of the sunset, was filling her rosy heart with joy�-Annie +sat in a rough little seat, scarcely an arbour, at the bottom of a +garden of the true country order, where all the dear old-fashioned +glories of sweet-peas, cabbage-roses, larkspur, gardener's garters, +honesty, poppies, and peonies, grew in homely companionship with +gooseberry and currant bushes, with potatoes and pease. The scent of +the sunset came in reality from a _cheval de frise_ of wallflower on +the coping of the low stone wall behind where she was sitting with her +Milton. She read aloud in a low voice that sonnet beginning "_Lady that +in the prime of earliest youth_." As she finished it, a voice, as low, +said, almost in her ear, + +"That's you, Annie." + +Alec was looking over the garden wall behind her. + +"Eh, Alec," she cried, starting to her feet, at once shocked and +delighted, "dinna say that. It's dreidfu' to hear ye say sic a thing. I +wish I was a wee like her." + +"Weel, Annie, I think ye're jist like her. But come oot wi' me. I hae a +story to tell ye. Gie me yer han', and pit yer fit upo' the seat." + +She was over the wall in a moment, and they were soon seated under the +trees of the copse near which Annie had met him before. The brown +twilight was coming on, and a warm sleepy hush pervaded earth and air, +broken only by the stream below them, cantering away over its stones to +join the Wan Water. Neither of them was inclined to quarrel with the +treeless country about them: they were lapped in foliage; nor with the +desolate moorland hills around them: they only drove them closer +together. + +Time unmeasured by either passed without speech. + +"They tell't me," said Alec at length, "that you and Curly had made it +up." + +"Alec!" exclaimed Annie, and looked up in his face as if he had accused +her of infidelity, but, instantly dropping her eyes, said no more. + +"I wad hae fun' ye oot afore a day was ower, gin it hadna been for +that." + +Annie's heart beat violently, but she said nothing, and, after a +silence, Alec went on. + +"Did my mother ever tell ye about how the barque was lost?" + +"No, Alec." + +"It was a terrible snow-storm with wind. We couldn't see more than a +few yards a-head. We were under bare poles, but we couldn't keep from +drifting. All in a moment a huge ghastly thing came out of the gloamin' +to windward, bore down on us like a spectre, and dashed us on a +floating field of ice. The barque was thrown right upon it with one +side stove in; but nobody was killed. It was an awful night, Annie; but +I'm not going to tell you about it now. We made a rough sledge, and +loaded it with provisions, and set out westward, and were carried +westward at the same time on the floe, till we came near land. Then we +launched our boat and got to the shore of Greenland. There we set out +travelling southwards. Many of our men died, do what I could to keep +them alive. But I'll tell you all about it another time, if you'll let +me. What I want to tell you noo's this.�-Ilka nicht, as sure as I lay +doon i' the snaw to sleep, I dreamed I was at hame. A' the auld stories +cam' back. I woke ance, thinkin' I was carryin' you throu' the water i' +the lobby o' the schuil, and that ye was greitin' upo' my face. And +whan I woke, my face was weet. I doobt I had been greitin mysel'. A' +the auld faces cam' roon' me ilka nicht, Thomas Crann and Jeames Dow +and my mother�-whiles ane and whiles anither-�but ye was aye there. + +"Ae mornin', whan I woke up, I was my lane. I dinna ken richtly hoo it +had happened. I think the men war nigh-han' dazed wi' the terrible +cauld and the weariness o' the traivel, and I had sleepit ower lang, +and they had forgotten a' aboot me. And what think ye was the first +thocht i' my heid, whan I cam' to mysel', i' the terrible white +desolation o' cauld and ice and snaw? I wantit to run straucht to you, +and lay my heid upo' yer shouther. For I had been dreamin' a' nicht +that I was lyin' i' my bed at hame, terrible ill, and ye war gaein +aboot the room like an angel, wi' the glimmer o' white wings aboot ye, +which I reckon was the snaw comin' throu' my dream. And ye wad never +come near me; and I cudna speak to cry to ye to come; till at last, +whan my hert was like to brak 'cause ye wadna luik at me, ye turned wi' +tears i' yer een, and cam' to the bedside and leaned ower me, and�-" + +Here Alec's voice failed him. + +"Sae ye see it was nae wonner that I wantit you, whan I fand mysel' a' +my lane i' the dreidfu' place, the very beauty o' which was deidly. + +"Weel, that wasna a'. I got mair that day than I thocht ever to get. +Annie, I think what Thomas Crann used to say maun be true. Annie, I +think a body may some day get a kin' o' a sicht o' the face o' God.�-I +was sae dooncast, whan I saw mysel' left ahin', that I sat doon upon a +rock and glowered at naething. It was awfu'. An' it grew waur and waur, +till the only comfort I had was that I cudna live lang. And wi' that +the thocht o' God cam' into my heid, and it seemed as gin I had a +richt, as it war, to call upon him-�I was sae miserable. + +"And there cam' ower me a quaietness, and like a warm breath o' spring +air. I dinna ken what it was-�but it set me upo' my feet, and I startit +to follow the lave. Snaw had fa'en, sae that I could hardly see the +track. And I never cam' up wi' them, and I haena heard o' them sin' +syne. + +"The silence at first had been fearfu'; but noo, somehoo or ither, I +canna richtly explain 't, the silence seemed to be God himsel' a' aboot +me. + +"And I'll never forget him again, Annie. + +"I cam' upo' tracks, but no o' oor ain men. They war the fowk o' the +country. And they brocht me whaur there was a schooner lyin' ready to +gang to Archangel. And here I am." + +Was there ever a gladder heart than Annie's? She was weeping as if her +life would flow away in tears. She had known that Alec would come back +to God some day. + +He ceased speaking, but she could not cease weeping. If she had tried +to stop the tears, she would have been torn with sobs. They sat silent +for a long time. At length Alec spoke again: + +"Annie, I don't deserve it�-but _will_ you be my wife some day?" + +And all the answer Annie made was to lay her head on his bosom and weep +on. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XCIII. + + +Is it worth while, I debate with myself, to write one word more?-�Shall +I tie the ends of my warp, or leave them loose?-�I will tie them, but +no one needs sit out the process. + +The farm of Howglen prospered. Alec never practised in his profession, +but became a first-rate farmer. Within two years Annie and he were +married, and began a new chapter of their history. + +When Mrs Forbes found that Alec and Annie were engaged, she discovered +that she had been in reality wishing it for a long time, and that the +opposing sense of duty had been worldly. + +Mr Cupples came to see them every summer, and generally remained over +the harvest. He never married. But he wrote a good book. + +Thomas Crann and he had many long disputes, and did each other good. +Thomas grew gentler as he grew older. And he learned to hope more for +other people. And then he hoped more for himself too. + +The first time Curly saw Annie after the wedding, he was amazed at his +own presumption in ever thinking of marrying such a lady. When about +thirty, by which time he had a good business of his own, he married +Isie Constable�-still little, still old-fashioned, and still wise. + +Margaret Anderson was taken good care of by Annie Forbes, but kept +herself clear of all obligation by never acknowledging any. + +Robert Bruce had to refund, and content himself with his rights. He +died worth a good deal of money notwithstanding, which must have been a +great comfort to him at the last. + +Young Robert is a clergyman, has married a rich wife, hopes to be +Moderator of the Assembly some day, and never alludes to his royal +ancestor. + + THE END. + +Note from John Bechard, transcriber of this electronic text. + +The following is a list of Scottish words found in George MacDonald�s +_Alec Forbes of Howglen_. I have compiled this list myself and worked +out the definitions from context with the help of Margaret West, from +Leven in Fife, Scotland, and also by referring to a word list found in +a collection of poems by Robert Burns, _Chamber�s Scots Dialect +Dictionary from the 17th century to the Present_ c. 1911 and +_Scots-English English-Scots Dictionary_ Lomond Books c. 1998. I have +tried to be as thorough as possible given the limited resources and +welcome any feedback on this list (my e-mail address is +JaBBechard@aol.com). This was never meant to be a comprehensive list of +the Scots Dialect, but rather an aid to understanding some of the +conversations and references that appear in this novel. I do apologise +for any mistakes or omissions. I aimed for my list to be very +comprehensive, and it often repeats the same word in a plural or +diminutive form. As well, it includes words that are quite obvious to +native English speakers, only spelled in such a way to demonstrate the +regional pronunciation. + +This list is a compressed format that consists of three columns for +�word�, �definition�, and �notes�. It is set up with a comma between +each item and a hard return at the end of each definition. This means +that this section could easily be cut and pasted into its own text file +and imported into a database or spreadsheet as a comma separated +variable file (.csv file). Failing that, you could do a search and +replace for commas in this section (I have not used any commas in my +words, definitions or notes) and replace the commas with spaces or +tabs. + +Word,Definition,Notes +a',all; every,also have +a' gait,everywhere, +a' thing,everything; anything, +abettin',abetting, +a'body,everyone; everybody, +aboon,above; up; over,also beyond; more than +aboot,about, +ac',act, +accep',accept, +accoont,account, +accoontet,accounted, +accoontit,accounted, +accordin',according, +acquant,acquainted, +actin',acting, +addin',adding, +ado,stir; excitement, +ae,one, +aff,off; away; past; beyond, +affeenity,affinity, +affoord,afford, +affront,affront; disgrace; shame, +affrontit,affronted; disgraced,also ashamed; shamed +afore,before; in front of, +aforehan',beforehand, +aften,often, +aftener,more often, +again',against, +agen,against, +agin,again, +aglintin',twinkling; gleaming, +Ahchan,Achan,reference to Joshua 7 +aheid,ahead, +ahin,behind; after; at the back of, +ahin',behind; after; at the back of, +ahint,behind; after; at the back of, +aiblins,perhaps; possibly, +aich,ach,also echo +Aidam,Adam, +aidin',aiding, +aik,oak, +ain,own,also one +airch,arch, +airm,arm, +airms,arms,also coat of arms; crest +airmy,army, +airt,quarter; direction; compass point,also art +airthly,earthly, +aise,ashes, +aith,oath, +aither,either, +alack,alas, +alane,alone, +alang,along, +alloo,allow, +allooance,allowance, +allooed,allowed, +allooin',allowing, +alloos,allows, +Almichty,Almighty; God, +amaist,almost, +amo',among, +amunt,amount, +an',and, +anawtomy,anatomy, +ance,once, +ane,one,also a single person or thing +aneath,beneath; under, +Anerew,Andrew, +anes,ones,also once +anger,anger; make angry,also grieve +angert,angered; angry,also grieved +anither,another, +appeteet,appetite, +a'ready,already, +arena,are not, +arles,money paid as an earnest,also one's deserts; thrashing +asclent,obliquely, +aside,beside,also aside +asides,beside; besides, +as'll,as will, +aspec',aspect, +'at,that, +a'thegeether,all together, +a'thegether,all together, +a'thegither,all together, +a'thing,everything; anything, +athort,across; over; through, +'at's,that is; that has, +attemp',attempt, +atten'in',attending, +attoarneys,attorneys, +atween,between, +aucht,eight; eighth,also ought; anything; own; possess; owed +auchteen,eighteen, +auld,old, +auld-farrand,old-fashioned,also droll; witty; quaint +ava,at all; of all,exclamation of banter; ridicule +ava',at all; of all,exclamation of banter; ridicule +awa,away; distant,also off; be off; go away +awa',away; distant,also off; be off; go away +awar',aware, +awauk,awake, +Awbrahawm,Abraham, +awe,owe,also own +aweel,ah well; well then; well, +awfu',awful, +awin,owing, +ay,yes; indeed,exclamation of surprise; wonder +aye,yes; indeed, +ayont,beyond; after, +ba',ball (snowball), +baad,bad, +backbane,backbone, +backwater,too much water in a mill-lade,hindering the revolution of the wheel +back-yett,back-gate, +bade,did bide; waited, +bairn,child, +bairnie,little child,diminutive +bairnies,little children,diminutive +bairns,children, +baith,both, +band,bound, +bane,bone, +banes,bones, +barkit,clotted; encrusted,hardened on the skin +barrow,wheelbarrow, +bauchles,old pair of shoes,also shoes down at the heel +Baudrons,kindly designation for a cat, +bauld,bold, +bawbee,halfpenny, +bawbees,halfpennies, +beadin',beading, +bearin',bearing, +bearin's,bearings, +beastie,beast; animal,diminutive to express sympathy or affection +becomin',becoming, +beeriet,buried, +beet,boot, +beginnin',beginning, +begud,began, +bein',being, +bein's,beings, +beir,bear, +beirers,bearers, +beirin',bearing; allowing, +beirs,bears, +bejan,first year's student,at a Scottish university +bejans,first year's students,at a Scottish university +belang,belong, +belanged,belonged, +believin',believing, +belongin's,belongings, +belongt,belonged, +ben,in; inside; into; within; inwards,also inner room +bena,be not; is not, +ben-end,best room in the house,pertaining to a two-roomed house +benn,in; inside; into; within; inwards,also inner room +benn the hoose,in/into the parlour,best room of the house +best-natered,best natured, +bet,bit, +beuk,book,also Bible +beuks,books, +bewaur,beware, +bick,bitch, +bicks,bitches, +biddin',bidding, +bide,endure; bear; remain; live,also desire; wish; bide +bides,endures; bears; remains; lives,also stays for; bides +bidin',enduring; bearing; remaining; living,also desiring; wishing; biding +big,build, +bigget,built, +biggin,building, +biggit,built, +bigs,builds, +bilin',boiling,also the whole quantity +bin',bind, +binna,be not; is not, +birk,birch; birch tree, +birken,birch (wood), +birr,force; energy; violence, +birstled,scorched, +birthricht,birthright, +bit,but; bit; morsel of food,also small; little--diminutive +bit and sup,food and drink, +bitet,bit,past participle of bite +bitter,spiteful, +bittie,little bit,diminutive +bitties,little bits,diminutive +blackin',blacking, +blae,blue, +blaeberries,blueberries, +blast,blast,also use big words or strong language +blastie,little blast; gust,diminutive +blastin',blasting,also using big words or strong language +blastit,blasted,also used big words or strong language +blaud,spoil; injure; soil, +blaudeth,spoileth,King James Bible style of speech +blaudin',spoiling; injuring; soiling, +blaudit,spoiled; injured; soiled, +blaw,blow, +blawin',blowing, +blawn,blown, +blazin',blazing, +bleedin',bleeding, +blin',blind, +blinkin',shining; gleaming; twinkling, +blinlins,blindly, +blin'ness,blindness, +blin's,blinds, +blude,blood, +bluid,blood, +bluidy,bloody, +boady,body, +boasom,bosom, +boatle,bottle (of whisky), +bobbin',bobbing, +boddom,bottom, +bodies,people; fellows; folk, +body,person; fellow,also body +bonnie,good; beautiful; pretty; handsome, +bonnier,better; more beautiful; prettier, +bonniest,best; most beautiful; prettiest,also considerable +bonny,good; beautiful; pretty; handsome, +booed,bowed, +bossie,large wooden bowl,serving bowl +bothie,cottage in common for farm-servants, +boucht,bought, +boun',bound, +brack,break, +brackin',breaking, +bracks,breaks, +brae,hill; hillside; high ground by a river, +braes,hills; hillsides; high ground by a river, +braggin',bragging, +braid,broad; having a strong accent, +brak,break, +brak',break, +brakfast,breakfast, +brakin',breaking, +brat,child,term of contempt +braw,beautiful; good; fine,also lovely (girl); handsome (boy) +brawly,admirably; very; very much; well, +breathin',breathing, +breedin',breeding, +breek-pooch,trouser pocket, +breeks,breeches; trousers, +breest,breast, +breid,bread, +breist,breast, +briest,breast, +brig,bridge, +brigs,bridges, +brimstane,brimstone, +bringin',bringing, +brither,brother, +brithers,brothers; fellows, +brithren,brethren; brothers, +brocht,brought, +brods,boards; (book covers), +broo,brow; eyebrow,also brew; liquor +broon,brown, +brose,water; soup; meal; oatmeal pudding, +broucht,brought, +bruik,broke, +brunstane,brimstone, +brunt,burned, +buckie,periwinkle,also trifle of no value +bude,would prefer to; behoved,also must; had to +buik,book,also Bible +buikie,little book,diminutive +buiks,books, +buird,board, +buirds,boards, +bunce,bounce, +burnie,little stream,diminutive +burnin',burning, +burnin's,burnings, +burns,water; streams; brooks, +buryin',burying,also funeral +but,main room in a croft; outside,includes kitchen and storage; also but +butt,main room in a croft; outside,includes kitchen and storage +butt the hoose,into the house; into the kitchen, +by gangs,passes by; goes by, +by ordinar,out of the ordinary; supernatural,also unusual; exceptional +by ordinar',out of the ordinary; supernatural,also unusual; exceptional +bye and aboon,over and above, +byganes,bygones, +bykes,hives; swarms; crowds,also bees' or wasps' nests +byous,exceedingly; extraordinary; very, +byre,cowshed, +byre-wa',cowshed wall, +ca,drive; impell; hammer, +ca',call; name, +ca'd,called,also driven; impelled; hammered +cadger,carrier; peddlar, +cairt,card,also cart +cairts,cards, +calcleation,calculation, +callan,stripling; lad,term of affection +caller,fresh; refreshing; cool, +cam,came, +cam',came, +camna,did not come, +camstairie,unmanageable; wild; obstinate,also perverse +cankert,cross; ill-humoured,also fretful +can'le,candle, +can'le-licht,candle-light, +can'les,candles, +canna,cannot,also cotton-grass +canna-down,cotton-grass, +cannie,cautious; prudent; shrewd; artful,also gentle; snug; pleasant +canny,cautious; prudent; shrewd; artful,also gentle; snug; pleasant +capawcity,capacity, +carefu',careful, +carin',caring, +carl,man; clown; boor in manners; churl, +carlin,old woman; shrew; hag, +carr,calves, +carritchis,catechism, +carryin',carrying, +ca's,calls, +cast,thrown off; discarded (clothes),also appearance; aspect; lose colour; fade +cast up,taunt; reproach, +castin',casting, +ca't,call it,also hammer it; impel it; hammer it +catchin',catching, +cat-loup,short distance; moment of time, +caud,cold (illness), +cauf,calf,also fool +cauld,cold, +'cause,because, +caution,security; guarantee, +caw,drive; impell; hammer, +cawed,driven; impelled; hammered, +cawpable,capable, +ceevil,civil, +ceevily,civilly, +'cep,except; but, +'cep',except; but, +chairge,charge, +chait,cheat, +change-hoose,alehouse; tavern, +chap,knock; hammer; strike; rap, +chappit,knocked; hammered; struck; rapped, +chaumer,chamber; room; bedroom, +cheap,thoroughly deserving, +cheemistry,chemistry, +cheerman,chairman, +cheese,choose, +cheir,chair, +cheirs,chairs, +chice,choice, +chiel',child; young person; fellow,term of fondness or intimacy +chield,child; young person; fellow,term of fondness or intimacy +chimley,chimney, +chimleys,chimneys, +chokin',choking, +chop,shop; store, +chop-door,shop door, +chowin',chewing, +chowse,choose, +chucken,chicken, +civileezed,civilized, +claes,clothes; dress, +claik,cackle of a hen,also idle or false report +claiks,cackles of a hen,also idle or false reports +claisp't,clasped, +clampit,made a noise of shoes when walking, +clanjamfrie,low worthless people, +clappit,patted; stroked; fondled,also pressed down +clash,blow; slap; mess,also gossip; tittle-tattle; tale-bearing +clave,cleaved, +claver,talk idly or foolishly; gossip; chat, +clean,altogether; entirely,also comely; shapely; empty; clean +cleanin',cleaning, +cleckit,hatched; born, +cleuks,claws; hands; paws, +clift,cleft, +clippin',clipping; shearing (sheep), +clood,cloud, +cloods,clouds, +cloot,clout; box (ear); beat; slap,also patch; mend +clortit,besmeared; dirtied, +close,narrow alley; blind alley,also enclosed land +cloured,struck; indented; beat, +cluds,clouds, +cluiks,hands; claws; paws; clutches, +clured,struck; indented; beaten, +cnottie,little lump,diminutive +coampliments,compliments, +coatie,children's coat; petticoat, +coats,petticoats, +coch,coach, +cockit,cocked, +cogues,small wooden vessel, +coguie,small wooden vessel,for holding milk (diminutive) +collieshangie,uproar; squabble; outbreak, +colliginer,college student,also college boy +colliginers,college students,college boys +comena,do not come, +comin,coming, +comin',coming, +compaingon,companion, +compairateevely,comparatively, +compleen,complain, +compleenin',complaining, +compoon,compound, +condeetion,condition, +conduc',conduct, +conductin',conducting, +confoon',confound, +conformin',conforming, +conneckit,connected, +consequens,consequence, +consolin',consoling, +consortin',consorting, +contack,contact, +conteenin',containing, +conteens,contains, +contred,contradicted; thwarted; crossed, +contrivin',contriving; designing, +convertin',converting, +convertit,converted, +coo,cow, +cooardly,cowardly, +cooncellor,councilor, +coonsel,counsel, +coont,count, +coontenance,countenance, +coonter,counter, +coontit,counted, +coonty,county, +coorse,coarse,also course +coortin',courting, +copyin',copying, +corp,body; corpse, +corpus,corpse, +corpuses,corpses, +correck,correct, +corrup',corrupt, +cot,cottage, +cottar,farm tenant; cottager, +couldna,could not, +coup,tilt; tumble; drink off, +couples,rafters, +couthy,kind; snug; comfortable; familiar, +coverin',covering, +cowerin',cowering, +cowmon,common, +crack,news; story; chat; gossip,also crack-brained +crackin',cracking; thundering, +cracklin',crackling, +craik,to croak; cry out harshly; murmur, +crap,top part,also crept +crater,creature, +craters,creatures, +cratur,creature, +cratur',creature, +craturs,creatures, +crawn,crowed, +crayter,creature, +creepie,(three legged) stool,a child's chair +crew,crowed, +creysh,grease, +cried,called; summoned, +crinkle-crankle,rustling and creaking, +crisping,crackling,sound as ground under foot in a slight frost +cronie,crony; friend; companion, +crookit,crooked; bent; twisted, +croon,crown, +crumblin',crumbling, +crunkle,crease; wrinkle; crumple, +cruppen,crept, +cryin',calling; summoning, +cud,could, +cudna,could not, +cummummerate,commemorate, +cupples,rafters, +curbstane,curbstone, +curfufflin',ruffling; disheveling, +curst,cursed, +cuttin',cutting, +cuttit,cut; harvested, +cutty-clay,short clay-pipe, +dacency,decency, +dacent,decent, +daft,mentally deranged; delirious; silly, +damnin',damning; condemning, +dam't,damned, +dang,knock; bang; drive,also damn +darg,day's work,work done in a day +dauner,stroll; saunter; amble, +daun'er,stroll; saunter; amble, +daur,dare; challenge, +daured,dared; challenged, +dauredna,did not dare; did not challenge, +daurna,dare not; do not dare, +daurs,dares; challenges, +daursay,dare say, +daw,dawn, +Dawgon,Dagon; Philistine god,see 1 Samuel 5:2-7 +dawtie,darling; pet,term of endearment +Dawvid,David, +daylicht,daylight, +dazin',dazing; bemuddling, +de,do, +dealin',dealing, +dearie,sweetheart; darling, +deave,deafen, +deceesion,decision, +dee,do,also die +deed,died,also deed; indeed +'deed,indeed, +deedie,water in a mill race, +deef,deaf, +deein',doing,also dying +deevil,devil, +deevilich,devilish,also extraordinary; supernatural +deevilry,devilry, +deevils,devils, +defamin',defaming, +defen',defend, +defyin',defying, +deid,dead,also death +deidly,deadly, +deif,deaf, +deil,devil,also not a +de'il,devil,also not a +Deil a bit!,Not at all! Not a bit!, +deils,devils, +dein',dying, +deith,death, +delicat,delicate, +denner,dinner, +denner-time,dinner time, +deowty,duty, +depairt,depart, +depen',depend, +depen'in',depending, +deuke,duck, +deycons,deacons, +dictionar',dictionary, +didna,did not, +differ,difference; dissent,also differ +dight,wipe; clean, +din,sound; din; report; fame, +ding,overcome; weary; vex,also drive; dash +dingin',overcoming; wearying; vexing,also driving; raining/snowing heavily +dinna,do not, +direc,direct, +direc',direct, +direckly,directly; immediately, +direcly,directly, +dirk,dirk; dagger, +dirl,thrill; tingle, +dirrty,dirty, +dis,does, +discipleen,discipline, +discoont,discount, +discoorse,discourse, +disinteresstitness,disinterestedness, +disjaskit,worn out; fatigued; exhausted,also dejected; depressed +disna,does not, +displeesur,displeasure, +displeesur',displeasure, +disposin',disposing, +disregaird,disregard, +disrespeck,disrespect, +dist,dust, +disturbin',disturbing, +disturbit,disturbed, +div,do, +divna,do not, +divot,thin flat piece of sod; turf, +dizzen,dozen, +dochter,daughter, +dochters,daughters, +dochtna,could not, +dockit,clipped, +doctorin',doctoring, +doesna,does not, +doin',doing, +doin's,doings, +doited,foolish; stupefied; crazy, +dominie,minister; schoolmaster,slightly contemptuous +dominies,ministers; schoolmasters,slightly contemptuous +doo,dove,darling--term of endearment +dooble,double; duplicate,also double dealing; devious +doobt,suspect; know; doubt,have an unpleasant conviction +doobtfu',doubtful, +doobtin',suspecting; knowing,also doubting +doobts,suspects; knows,also doubts +doom,doom; end; sentence, +dooms,extremely; exceedingly; very, +doom's,extremely; exceedingly; very; great, +doon,down, +dooncast,downcast, +doonfa',downfall, +doonhertit,downhearted, +doonricht,downright, +doonwith,downward, +door-cheek,door-post; threshold; doorway, +door-sill,threshold, +doot,doubt,also suspect; suspect +do't,do it, +dottle,unconsumed tobacco in a pipe, +douce,gentle; sensible; sober; prudent, +doun,down, +doup,bottom; backside; buttocks, +dour,hard; stern; stiff; sullen, +draan,drawn, +draigon,dragon; also boy's paper kite,reference to Revelation 12-13 +drap,drop; small quantity of, +drappit,dropped, +drappy,little drop; a little (liquor),diminutive +drap's bluid,related by blood, +drave,drove, +drawers,chest of drawers, +dreadfu',dreadful, +dreamin',dreaming, +drede,dread, +dreidfu',dreadful; dreadfully, +drift,snow driven by the wind, +drinkin',drinking, +drippin',dripping, +drivin',driving, +droon,drown, +drooned,drowned, +droonin',drowning, +droons,drowns, +droont,drowned, +drouth,thirst; dryness,also drought +drucken,drunken; tipsy, +drunken,drank; drunk, +dryin',drying, +dub,mud; small pool of water, +dubby,miry; muddy; dirty, +duds,clothes; rags; tatters, +dune,done, +dune't,done it, +dwin'lin',dwindling, +dyin',dying, +dyke,wall of stone or turf, +ear',early, +eatin',eating, +Edam,Adam, +edder,adder, +edication,education, +ee,eye, +eebrees,eyebrows, +eemage,image, +een,eyes, +eeran',errand, +eesicht,eyesight; by all appearances, +effecks,effects, +efter,after; afterwards, +efterhin,after; afterwards, +efternoon,afternoon, +efterwards,afterwards, +eicht,eight; eighth, +elbuck,elbow, +elec,elect,chosen by God for salvation (Calvinism) +elec',elect,chosen by God for salvation (Calvinism) +eleck,elect,chosen by God for salvation (Calvinism) +en',end, +endeevour,endeavour, +endeevours,endeavours, +eneuch,enough, +enlichten,enlighten, +enterest,interest, +entick,dam built across a river, +everlastin',everlasting, +exackly,exactly, +excep',except, +expec',expect, +expecket,expected, +expeckin',expecting, +expeckit,expected, +extrornar,extraordinary, +eyther,either, +Ezakiel,Ezekiel,book in the Old Testament +fa',fall; befall, +fac,fact; truth; reality, +fac',fact; truth; reality, +fa'en,fallen, +faimily,family, +fa'in',falling, +faintin',fainting, +Faith!,Indeed!; Truly!,exclamation +fallow,fellow; chap, +fallows,fellows; chaps, +fand,found, +fareweel,farewell, +farmin',farming, +farrer,farther, +fa's,falls, +fash,trouble; inconvenience; vex, +fashous,troublesome; vexing, +faul'd,folded, +faun',found, +faund,found, +fause,false, +faushion,fashion, +fau't,fault; blame, +fauts,faults, +fau'ts,faults, +fau't's,fault is, +feared,afraid; frightened; scared, +fearfu',fearful; easily frightened, +fearsome,terrifying; fearful; awful, +fecht,fight; struggle, +fechtin',fighting; struggling, +feckless,weak; feeble; incapable, +feelin',feeling, +feelin's,feelings, +fegs!,truly!; really!; goodness!; faith!,mild oath; exclamation of surprise +fell,very; potent; keen; harsh; sharp,intensifies; also turf; lot; destiny +feow,few, +ferm,farm, +fess,fetch; bring, +fest,fast, +fin,find,also feel +fin',find,also feel +fin'in',finding; feeling, +firs,first, +fit,foot; base,also fit; capable; able +fit-haud,foothold, +fiver,fever, +flamin',flaming, +flang,kicked; threw, +flannin,flannel, +flauchterin',fluttering, +flaw,flew, +flee,fly; flee,also fly (the insect) +fleechin',wheedling; flattering; fawning, +fleein',flying; fleeing, +fleg,blow; kick; stroke,also scare; frighten +fleggin',blowing; kicking; stroking,also scaring; frightening +fleyt,terrified; frightened, +fling,kick; throw, +fling't,kick it; throw it, +flit,shift; remove; depart, +floatin',floating, +flooer,flower, +flooers,flowers, +floories,little flowers,diminutive +flure,floor, +flutterin',fluttering, +followin',following, +forbears,ancestors; forefathers, +forby,as well; as well as; besides,also over and above +forbye,as well; as well as; besides,also over and above +forenichts,fore-nights; early evenings,also late afternoons +foreordeen't,foreordained, +foret,forward, +forfochten,worn out; exhausted, +forgettin',forgetting, +forgie,forgive, +for's,for his, +for't,for it, +fortnicht,fortnight; two weeks, +fother,fodder; provision, +foughten,fought, +foul-fa',devil take; evil befall, +foul-mou'd,foul-mouthed, +fourt,fourth, +fower,four, +fowk,folk, +fowks,folks, +fra,from, +frae,from, +frae't,from it, +free,frank; outspoken; genial; familiar, +freely,quite; very; thoroughly, +frein',friend, +frichtit,frightened; scared away, +frien',friend, +frien's,friends, +fu',full; very; much, +fule,fool, +fules,fools, +fumblin',fumbling, +fun',found, +fundation,foundation, +fund't,founded, +furth,forth, +fushionless,pithless; tasteless; feeble, +fusionless,pithless; tasteless; feeble, +futteret,weasel,term of contempt +fykes,trifles; troubles; cares; whims, +gad,iron bar, +gae,gave,also go +ga'e,gave, +gaed,went, +gaein,going, +gaein',going, +gaeins,goings, +gairden,garden, +gait,way; fashion,also route; street +gaither,gather, +gaits,ways,also routes; streets +gane,gone, +gane hame,gone home,also passed away; died +gang,go; goes; depart; walk, +gang yer wa's,go on, +gangs,goes; walks, +gar,cause; make; compel, +garred,made; caused; compelled, +garrin',making; causing; compelling, +gars,makes; causes; compels, +gart,made; caused; compelled, +gaun,going, +gear,possessions; money; property,also livestock +geid,gave, +gentlefowk,gentlefolk; gentry, +gerss,grass, +gether,gather, +gethered,gathered, +getna,do not get, +gettin',getting, +gey,fairly; considerably,also considerable +gey and,somewhat; rather, +ghaist,ghost; soul; spirit, +ghaistly,ghostly, +gie,give, +gie a lift,give a helping hand, +gied,gave, +giein,giving, +giein',giving, +gien,if; as if; then; whether,also given +gi'en,given, +gien't,if it,also given it +gies,gives, +gie's,gives; give us; give his, +gie't,give it, +gif,if; whether, +gimp,slender; neat, +gin,if; as if; then; whether, +gin't,if it, +girnel,granary; meal-chest, +girnel-kist,meal-chest, +girnell,granary; meal-chest, +girnin',grimacing; snarling, +girns,grimaces; snarls; twists the features, +girrl,girl, +girse,grass, +glaid,glad, +glaidle,gladly, +glaidness,gladness, +glaiss,glass, +gleanins,gleanings, +gleg,quick; lively; smart; quick-witted, +gleg ee,quick or sharp eye (to notice things), +gleg-eed,quick-eyed; sharp eyed, +gleg-ee'd,quick-eyed; sharp eyed, +glimmerin',glimmering, +glimmert,glimmered, +glimp,glimpse; glance,also the least degree +glimp',glimpse; glance,also the least degree +glinted,twinkled; glittered, +glintin',twinkling; glittering, +gloamin,twilight; dusk, +gloamin',twilight; dusk, +glorifeed,glorified, +glowered,stared; gazed; scowled, +glowerin',staring; gazing; scowling, +glowert,stared; gazed; scowled, +God-fearin',God-fearing, +gomeril,fool; blockhead, +goo,taste; odour; smell, +goody,old woman,also child's name for a sweet +goon,gown, +gowd,gold, +gowden,golden, +gowk,cuckoo; fool; blockhead, +grainie,little particle; little bit,diminutive +grainy,little particle; little bit, +graip,three-pronged fork,used in farming +graivitation,gravitation, +gran',grand; capital; first-rate, +gran'-dochter,grand-daughter, +grandur,grandeur, +gran'mither,grandmother, +grat,cried; wept, +gravestanes,gravestones; tombstones; headstones, +greet,cry; weep, +greetin,crying; weeping, +greetin',crying; weeping, +greit,cry; weep, +greitin,crying; weeping, +greitin',crying; weeping, +grin',grind, +grip,grasp; understand,also hold +grips,grasps; understands,seizures; colic +grit,great; big, +grosert,gooseberry, +growin,growing, +growin',growing, +growlin',growling, +grue,feeling of horror; tremor,also tremble +grummle,grumble, +grun',ground, +gruntit,grunted,also grumbled; complained +grutten,cried; wept, +guairdian,guardian, +guddle,mangle, +guddlet,mangled, +gude,good,also God +gude wife,mistress of the house; wife,also farmer's wife +gudewife,mistress of the house; wife,also farmer's wife +gueed,good,also God +guid,good,also God +guide,treat; handle; look after; manage; keep, +guidit,treated; handled; managed, +guidman,master; husband; head of household,also farmer +guidwife,mistress of the house; wife,also farmer's wife +guiss,guess, +guissin',guessing, +gumption,common-sense; shrewdness, +gurglin',gurgling, +gutter-partans,gutter crab, +ha',have,also hall; house +hadna,had not, +hae,have; has,also here; understand +haein,having, +haein',having, +haeing,having, +haena,have not; do not have, +haena',have not; do not have, +hae't,have it, +haill,whole, +hained,saved; hoard; shield, +hairm,harm, +Hairries,Harrys, +hairst,harvest, +hairst-play,school holidays during harvest, +Haith!,Faith!,exclamation of surprise +half-a-croon,half-crown; half a crown,=2 shillings and 6 pence +half-gaits,half-way, +half-hoor,half-hour, +hame,home, +han',hand, +handit,handed, +han'fu',handful, +hangin',hanging, +hangt,hanged, +han'le,handle, +han's,hands, +hantel,much; large quantity; far, +hantle,much; large quantity; far, +happent,happened, +happin',hopping, +h'ard,heard, +hardent,hardened, +hard-hertit,hard-hearted, +hards,what of boiled food,adheres to the pot +hard-workin',hard-working, +harlin',rough-casting a wall,with a mixture of mortar and gravel +hasna,does not have; has not; hasn't, +haud,hold; keep, +hauden,held; kept, +haudin',holding; keeping, +hauds,holds; keeps, +hause,neck; throat, +haven,heaven, +haverin',talking incoherently; babbling, +havers,nonsense; foolish talk; babble, +haythen,heathen, +he that will to Coupar maun to Coupar,a wilful man must have his way, +heap,very much,also heap +hearin',hearing, +heark,listen, +hearken,hearken; hear; listen, +hearkened,hearkened; heard; listened, +hearkenin',hearkening; listening, +hearkent,hearkened; heard; listened, +hearthstane,hearthstone, +Hech!,Oh! strange!,a sighing exclamation +heedlong,headlong, +heedna,heed not; do not heed, +heep,very much,also heap +heepocreet,hypocrite, +heid,head; heading, +heidit,headed, +heid-quarters,headquarters, +heids,heads; headings, +helpin',helping, +her lane,on her own; her alone, +hermaphrodeet,hermaphrodite, +herrin,herring, +herrin',herring, +hersel,herself, +hersel',herself, +hersel's,herself has; herself is, +hert,heart, +herts,hearts, +hert-sair,heart sore, +herty,heartily; hearty, +het,hot; burning, +heumble,humble, +heumbly,humbly, +hidin',hiding,also beating; thrashing +hidin'-place,hidding place, +Hielanman,Highland man, +hillo,,a call to attract attention +him lane,on his own; him alone, +himsel,himself, +himsel',himself, +hinder,hinder; hind; latter, +hing,hang, +hingin',hanging, +hinner,hinder; hind; latter, +hinner en',end; end of life, +hinner-en',end; end of life, +hinnie,honey, +hirin',hiring, +hirple,limp; hobble, +hirpling,limping; hobbling, +hit,it,emphatic +hizzie,hussy; silly girl, +hizzies,hussies; silly girls, +hogsheid,hogshead; large barrel or cask, +hoo,how, +hooever,however, +hooly,slowly; cautiously; gently,also 'take your time' +hooly and fairly,slowly and gently, +hoor,hour, +hoors,hours, +hoo's,how is, +hoose,house; home, +hoose-gear,household goods, +hooses,houses; homes, +hoose-taps,house-tops, +hoosie,little house,diminutive +hoot,pshaw,exclamation of doubt or contempt +hoot toot,tut!,exclamation of annoyance +hoots,pshaw,exclamation of doubt or contempt +horn,comb,also horn +Horney,the devil, +horsie,little horse,diminutive +host,cough, +hough,man's leg or thigh, +houp,hope, +houpes,hopes, +houpfu',hopeful, +houps,hopes, +how,hollow; valley; glen, +howdie,midwife, +howk,dig; excavate, +howkin',digging; excavating, +hoydenish,inelegantly,also inelegant; homely +hungert,starved, +hunner,hundred, +hurtit,hurt, +huz,us,emphatic +i',in; into, +I doobt,I know; I suspect, +I doot,I know; I suspect, +I doubt,I know; I suspect, +I s' awa.,I'm off.; I'd better go., +I wad,I know; I assure (you), +idleset,idleness; frivolous amusement,also laziness +ile,oil, +ilka,every; each,also common; ordinary +ill,bad; evil; hard; harsh; badly,also misfortune; harm +'ill,will, +ill-aff,poor; miserable; badly off, +ill-contrived,tricky; mischievous,also badly behaved; ill-tempered +ill-designed,evilly disposed, +ill-faured,unbecoming; ill-mannered; clumsy,also unpleasant; unsavoury +ill-guide,mismanage; ill-treat, +ill-guideship,mismanagement; ill-treatment, +ill-nater'd,ill-natured, +ill-natert,ill-natured, +ill-pleased,not pleased; unhappy, +ill-tongued,foul-tongued; abusive, +'im,him, +imaigin',imagine, +imaigine,imagine, +impidence,impudence, +impident,impudent, +impruvment,improvement, +incomins,comings in, +incontinent,forthwith; immediately, +indwellin',indwelling, +ingle-neuk,chimney-corner or recess; fireside, +in's,in his, +insicht,insight, +instruc',instruct, +instruck,instruct, +in't,in it, +intendit,intended +, +interrup',interrupt, +intil,into; in; within, +intil's,into his; into us, +intil't,into it, +inveesible,invisible, +Is',I should; I shall, +isna,is not; is no, +isna't,is it not, +is't,is it, +ither,other; another; further,also else; otherwise +ithers,others, +itsel,itself, +itsel',itself, +itsel's,itself is, +jabberin',chattering; idle talking, +jabble,ripple; small broken waves, +jaud,lass; girl; worthless woman,old worn-out horse +jawd,lass; girl; worthless woman,old worn-out horse +jawds,lasses; girls; worthless women,old worn-out horses +jawin',talking; chattering, +jaws,billows; splashes; surges; waves, +Jeames,James, +jeedge,judge, +jeedgement,judgement, +jeedgment,judgement, +jeerin',mocking, +jeest,jest; joke, +jeist,jest, +jeistin',jesting, +jiffie,moment, +jine,join, +jined,joined, +jist,just, +jokin',joking, +jummlin',jumbling, +jumps,tallies; coincides,also eagerly accepts +kail,colewort,also food; dinner +keekin',looking; peeping; prying, +keekit,looked; peeped; spied, +keepin',keeping, +keepit,kept, +ken,know; be acquainted with; recognise, +kenna,do not know, +kenned,known; knew, +kennin,knowing, +kennin',knowing, +kens,knows, +kensna,does not know, +kent,known; knew, +ken't,know it, +kentna,did not know, +kettlefu',kettleful, +key-stane,key-stone, +killin',killing, +killoguin,plotting; conspiring, +killt,killed, +kin',kind; nature; sort; agreeable,also somewhat; in some degree +kin'-herted,kind-hearted, +kin'-hertit,kind-hearted, +kin'list,kindliest, +kin'ness,kindness, +kirk,church, +kirk-buiks,kirk-session's records or minute-books, +kirkies,little churches,diminutive +kirkyard,churchyard, +kirk-yard,churchyard, +kirsten,christen, +kist,chest; coffer; box; chest of drawers, +kitchie,kitchen,also addition or relish to plain fare +kittle,ticklish, +kittlin',kitten, +kye,cattle; cows, +laad,lad; boy,term of commendation or reverence +laads,lads; boys,term of commendation or reverence +labourin',labouring, +laddie,boy,term of affection +laddies,boys,term of affection +lade,load, +ladles,small wooden box with a long handle,for collecting offerings in church +laft,loft, +laich,low; inferior, +lainch,launch, +laip,leap, +laird,landed proprietor; squire; lord, +laist,last, +Laitin,Latin, +lamentin',lamenting, +lammie,little lamb,term of endearment +lammies,little lambs,term of endearment +lan',land; country; ground, +lane,lone; alone; lonely; solitary, +lanes,lone; alone, +lanesome,lonesome, +lang,long; big; large; many,also slow; tedious +langer,longer, +langheided,shrewd; far-seeing; intelligent, +lang-leggit,long legged, +lang's,long as, +lang-sichtit,far-sighted, +langsome,slow; tedious; weary, +lap,leaped, +lass,girl; young woman,term of address +lass-bairns,female children; girl children, +lasses,girls; young women, +lassie,girl,term of endearment +lassies,girls,term of endearment +lat,let; allow, +lat ower,swallow, +lat's,let's; let us; let his, +lattin,letting; allowing, +lattin',letting; allowing, +lauch,laugh, +lauchen,laughed, +lauchin,laughing, +lauchin',laughing, +lauchs,laughs, +lauchter,laughter, +lave,rest; remainder; others,also leave +laverock,lark (type of bird), +lay awa',to lay eggs in out-of-the-way places,used of hens +layin',laying, +lay't,lay it, +lea',leave, +leal,loyal; faithful; sincere; true, +learnin',learning,also teaching +learnt,learned,also taught +leddies,ladies, +leddy,lady,also boy; lad; laddy +lee,pasture; fallow ground,also shelter from wind or rain; lie +leeberties,liberties, +leeberty,liberty, +leebrarian,librarian, +leebrary,library, +leein',lying; telling lies, +lee-lang,whole, +leemited,limited, +lees,lies, +leevin',living; living being, +leisur',leisure, +leme,gleam, +lemin',blazing; gleaming; flashing, +len',lend; give; grant,also loan +lenth,length, +len'th,length, +len'ths,lengths, +lere,lore, +leuch,laughed, +leuk,look; watch; appearance, +leukin,looking; watching, +licht,light, +lichter,lighter, +licht-heidit,light-headed, +lichtlied,made light of; disparaged,also despised; scorned +lichtnin',lightning, +lichts,lights, +lick,thrash; punish; whip,also small quantity +licked,thrashed; punished; whipped, +lickin',thrashing; punishment; whipping, +licking,thrashing; punishment; whipping, +lickins,thrashings; punishments; whippings, +lickit,thrashed; punished; whipped,also licked +licks,thrashes; punishments; whips, +lift,load; boost; lift; helping hand,also sky; heavens +liftin',lifting, +liftit,lifted, +liker,more like; better suited, +likest,most like, +likin',liking, +likit,liked, +likly,likely, +limmer,rascal; rogue,also loose woman; prostitute +links,stretch of sandy grass-covered ground,near the seashore +lintie,linnet; type of finch (bird), +lippen,trust; depend on,also look after +lippent,trusted; depended on,also looked after +litster,dyer, +livin',living, +'ll,will, +loadent,loaded, +lockit,locked, +lo'e,love, +lo'ed,loved, +lo'ein',loving, +lo'es,loves, +longin',longing, +lood,loud, +loof,palm of the hand,also hoof +lookin',looking, +loon,rascal; rogue; ragamuffin,also boy; lad +loons,rascals; rogues; ragamuffins,also boys; lads +loot,let; allowed; permitted, +looten,let; allowed, +lore,talk; conversation, +Losh!,corrupt form of 'Lord',exclamation of surprise or wonder +losin',losing, +lot,let, +loun,rascal; rogue; ragamuffin,also boy; lad +loup,leap; jump; spring, +loupin',leaping; jumping; springing, +lousened,loosened, +low,flame, +lowerin',stooping, +lowin',flaming, +lown,calm; serene; sheltered, +lowne,calm; serene; sheltered, +lowse,loose; free,also dishonest; immoral +luckie,old woman, +lucky,old woman, +lug,ear; fin (fish); handle,also shallow wooden dish +lugs,ears, +luik,look, +luik'd,looked, +luikin,looking, +luikin',looking, +luikit,looked, +luiks,looks, +luik't,looked, +lum,chimney, +lyin',lying, +'m,him, +magistrand,student about to become M.A.,at Aberdeen University +magistrands,students about to become M.A.,at Aberdeen University +mainner,manner, +mainners,manners, +mair,more; greater, +mairgin,margin, +mairtyrs,martyrs, +maist,most; almost, +'maist,almost, +maister,master; mister,also schoolmaster +maistly,mostly; most of all, +maitter,matter, +maitters,matters, +mak,make; do, +mak',make; do, +makin',making; doing, +maks,makes; does, +mak's,makes; does, +mappy,bunny; rabbit, +mathemawtics,mathematics, +mathewmawtics,mathematics, +maukin,hare,also a reference to a poem by Burns +maun,must; have to; has to, +maunna,must not; may not, +mayhap,perhaps; maybe, +mayna,may not, +meal-mull,meal mill, +mealy-mou'd,mealy-mouthed, +meanin',meaning, +meddlet,meddled, +meeserable,miserable, +meetin,meeting, +meetin',meeting, +mem,Ma'am; Miss; Madam, +men',mend, +mendit,mended; healed, +men'in',mending; healing, +menseless,ill-bred; boorish; unmannerly, +men't,mended, +meowlin,mewing, +merchan's,merchants; shopkeepers, +mercifu',merciful; favourable, +merryin',marrying; getting married, +metapheesical,metaphysical, +micht,might, +michtna,might not, +michty,mighty; God, +midden,dunghill; manure pile, +middlin',tolerable; mediocre; fairly well, +midnicht,midnight, +mids,midst; middle, +mids',midst; middle, +millstane,millstone, +min',mind; recollection,also recollect; remember; remind +mind,mind; recollection,also recollect; remember; remind +min'd,minded; recollected; remembered,also reminded +mindit,minded; recollected; remembered,also reminded +minds,reminds, +ministerin',ministering, +minnie,mother; mommy,pet name +minnisters,ministers, +min's,minds; reminds; recollects, +mint,insinuate; hint; feign,also aim at; attempt +mintin',insinuating; hinting; feigning,also aiming at; attempting +mirk,darkness; gloom; night, +misbelief,unbelief, +misca'd,spoke evil of; scolded; called names,also misnamed +misca's,speaks evil of; scolds; calls names, +mischeef,mischief; injury; harm, +misdoobt,doubt; disbelieve; suspect, +misgreein',growing stunted or crooked, +misgrugled,disfigured; marred; handled roughly, +misguided,wasted; mismanaged; ill-used, +misguidit,wasted; mismanaged; ill-used, +missionar,missionary, +missionars,missionaries, +mista'en,mistaken, +mista'en',mistaken, +mistak,mistake, +mistak',mistake, +mistakin',mistaking, +mistak's,mistake as, +mither,mother, +mithers,mothers, +mixter,mixture, +mock,fun; jest; sham; swindle, +Mononday,Monday, +mony,many, +mooly,earthy; earth-stained, +moonlicht,moonlight, +moose,mouse, +mornin',morning, +mou,mouth, +mou',mouth, +moudiwarp,mole, +moufu',mouthful, +mou'fu',mouthful, +moul',mould; loose earth; top soil, +mouls,moulds; soils; graves, +mous,mouths, +mou's,mouths, +mowse,joke; jest, +'msel',himself, +muck,wet dung; mud; mire, +muckle,huge; enormous; big; great; much, +mull,snuff-box,also mill +mune,moon, +munelicht,moonlight, +munsie,monsieur; contemptible figure,also spectacle through ill-treatment +murlocks,crumbs; fragments, +murrin',purring; murmuring, +mutch,woman's cap with protruding frill,worn under the bonnet +mutched,wearing a mutch or woman's cap, +mutches,woman's caps with protruding frill,worn under the bonnet +mutterin',muttering, +muv,move; affect, +My certy!,Take my word for it!, +my lane,on my own, +mysel,myself, +mysel',myself, +na,no; none; not; by no means,an exclamation of surprise +nae,no; none; not, +naebody,nobody; no one, +naething,nothing, +nainsel',one's own self, +naisty,nasty, +naiteral,natural, +nane,none, +nate,neat, +nater,nature, +nateral,natural, +natur,nature, +natur',nature, +naturs,natures, +nay-say,to deny; refuse; contradict, +nearhan',nearly; almost; near by, +near-han',nearly; almost; near by, +neb,tip; point; nib; beak; nose, +necessar',necessary, +neebor,neighbour, +neebors,neighbours, +needfu',needful; necessary; needy, +needin',needing, +needna,do not need; need not, +neep,turnip, +neeps,turnips, +neglec,neglect, +neglec',neglect, +negleck,neglect, +neip,turnip, +neist,next; nearest, +neuk,nook; recess; interior angle,also corner +neyther,neither, +nib,point; tip; human nose, +nicher,snigger, +nicherin',sniggering, +nicht,night; evening, +nichts,nights, +nickerin',neighing; whinnying; sniggering, +nickum,mischievous and tricky boy, +nigh-han',nearly, +niz,nose, +no,not, +no mowse,not to be meddled with, +noathing,nothing, +noo,now, +noo's,now is, +nor,than; although; if,also nor +norsin',nursing, +nott,(bank) note, +notwithstandin',notwithstanding, +nowther,neither, +nummer,number, +o',of; on, +objec',object, +objecs,objects, +obleeged,obliged, +Od,disguised form of 'God',mince oath +odds,consequence; change, +offendin',offending, +ohn,without; un-,uses past participle not present progressive +'oman,woman, +ony,any, +ony gait,anyway, +onybody,anybody; anyone, +onygait,anyway, +onyhoo,anyhow, +onything,anything, +ook,week, +oolets,owls, +oor,our, +oors,ours, +oorsels,ourselves, +oot,out, +ootgang,going out; exit, +ootgoins,goings out, +ootlandish,outlandish, +ootlay,outlay, +ootluik,outlook, +ootricht,outright, +oots,outs, +ootside,outside, +opeenion,opinion, +open'd,opened, +openin',opening, +opingon,opinion, +or,before; ere; until; by,also or +orderin',ordering, +ordinar,ordinary; usual; natural,also custom; habit +ordinar',ordinary; usual; natural,also custom; habit +oreeginal,original, +ou,oh, +oucht,anything; all,also ought +oughtna,ought not, +ow,oh,exclamation of surprise +ower,over; upon; too, +owercome,overcome; recover, +owerheard,overheard, +owerluik,overlook, +ower-turn,overturn, +Paceefic,Pacific (Ocean), +pailace,palace, +pairis,parrish, +pairt,part, +pairtin',parting, +pairtit,parted, +pairts,parts, +pan,skull; head, +pandies,strokes on the palm with a cane,form of punishment +pandy,stroke on the palm with a cane,form of punishment +pang,pain; ache,also pack to the utmost; cram +Paradees,Paradise, +parritch,oatmeal porridge, +pat,put; made, +patchin',patching, +pauky,shrewd; cunning; knowing; artful, +Pawtmos,Patmos, +payin',paying, +peat-moss,place where peats are dug, +peddlin',peddling, +peety,pity, +peggin',hammering; beating, +peowpils,pupils, +perfec,perfect, +perishin',perishing, +perswaud,persuade, +Pheelip,Philip, +pheesiology,physiology, +Phillisteens,Philistines, +philoasophy,philosophy, +picket,strike on the knuckles,also choice; dressed; +pickit,picked, +piece,slice of bread; lunch,also piece (of oat-cake) +pig,stone bottle, +pikin',picking; gathering; pilfering, +pint,point, +pints,points, +pirn,reel; bobbin,on which thread is wound +pit,put; make,also pit +pitawta,potato, +pitawtas,potatoes, +pits,puts; makes,also pits +pitten,put; made, +pittin,putting; making, +pittin',putting; making, +pityin',pitying, +plack,the smallest coin,worth 1/3 of a penny +plaguesome,annoying; troublesome, +plaguit,plagued; troubled, +plaid,plaid used as a blanket, +plantin',plantation, +play,school holidays during harvest,see hairst-play; also holiday; game +playin',playing, +pleesant,pleasant, +pleesur,pleasure, +pleesur',pleasure, +pleuch,plough, +pliskie,trick; prank; practical joke, +plooed,ploughed, +plooin',ploughing, +ploy,amusement; sport; escapade, +ploys,amusements; sports; escapades, +pluckit,plucked, +plunky,preparation of treacle and flour, +pock,smallpox, +pooch,pocket; pouch, +pooches,pockets, +pooer,power, +poor,pour,also poor +pose,hoard; secret store; savings, +positeevely,positively, +potty,putty, +poun',pound (sterling), +pour,steady flow; heavy shower, +powther,powder, +praiched,preached, +Praise be thankit!,,exclamation of thanks to God +praisin',praising, +prankin',prancing, +prayin',praying, +preachin',preaching, +preceese,precise, +precenter,one who leads the singing, +precentor,one who leads the singing, +pree,taste; try; prove; experience, +preeviledges,privileges, +preevileege,privilege, +prencipal,principal; capital sum (of a loan), +prenciple,principle, +prenciples,principles, +prent,print, +preparet,prepared, +press,wall-cupboard with shelves, +preten',pretend, +pretendit,pretended, +pretennin',pretending, +prin,pin, +proaper,proper, +proceedin',proceeding, +proceedins,proceedings, +procleemed,proclaimed, +prood,proud, +prophecee,prophecy, +prophecees,prophecies, +propheseein',prophesying, +prospec',prospect, +pruv,prove, +pu',pull, +public,public house; pub, +public-hoose,public house; pub, +pu'd,pulled, +pu'ed,pulled, +puir,poor, +pump,beer-shop,also pump +pun',pound (sterling), +pyke,pick; pluck,also steal; pilfer +quaiet,quiet, +quaiet sough,quiet tongue, +quaieter,quieter, +quaietest,quietest, +quaietit,quieted, +quaietly,quietly, +quaietness,quietness, +quawlifee,qualify, +quean,queen; young girl; hussy, +queston,question,also sum +questons,questions,also sums +quhilk,which; who, +quittance,quittance; riddance, +quo',swore; said; quoth, +rackit,wrenched; strained, +rade,rode, +rael,real, +railly,really, +raither,rather, +rale,real; true; very, +rampaugin',rampaging, +rampin',stamping about in fury, +rarely,excellently, +rase,rose, +rashes,rushes, +rave,tore, +rax,extend; overdo it; stretch,also hand; pass; reach +readin',reading, +reamy,creamy, +recogneeze,recognize, +redd,set in order; tidy; clean; comb, +reek,smoke; mist; fog; smell, +reeks,billows of smoke, +reelin',reeling, +reestlin',rustling, +reet,root, +referrin',referring, +regaird,regard, +regairdet,regarded, +regairds,regards, +reglar,regular, +reid,red, +reid-het,red hot, +reid-wud,fiercely or wildly angry, +remarkin',remarking, +remeid,remedy; cure; redress, +remembert,remembered, +remin',remind, +remin't,reminded, +rendert,rendered, +repentin',repenting, +repentit,repented, +reposin',reposing, +respec,respect, +respec',respect, +respeck,respect; consider worthy, +restin',resting, +rheumateese,rheumatism, +rheumateeze,rheumatism, +rheumatize,rheumatism, +richt,right; correct,also mend +richteous,righteous, +richteousness,righteousness, +richtful,rightful, +richtly,rightly; certainly; positively, +richts,rights, +richtyisness,righteousness, +riddlet,riddled, +ridickleous,ridiculous, +riggin,ridge; roof, +riggin',ridge; roof, +riggin-stane,stone forming part of the ridge,of a roof +riggin-tree,rooftree; ridge-beam of the house, +rigwiddie,stubborn in disposition, +rin,run, +ringin',ringing, +rinnin',running, +rins,runs, +rintheroot,gadabout; homeless vagrant; tramp, +ripe,search thoroughly,also clear an obstruction +risin',rising, +rist,rest, +rive,rent; tear; tug; wrench,also; fight +rivin',renting; tearing; tugging; wrenching,also riven; torn; burst; fighting +rizzon,reason, +rizzonable,reasonable, +road-metal,broken stones used for road repair, +roarin',roaring, +roddin,mountain-ash (tree), +roon,around; round, +roon',around; round, +roost,rust, +roostit,rusted, +rory-bories,aurora borealis, +rosten,roasting, +rottan-holes,rat holes, +rottans,rats, +rottit,rotted, +rouch,rough, +roun,around; round,also whisper +roun',around; round, +roup,sale by auction, +roupin',selling by auction, +roupit,sold at auction, +rousin',rousing, +row,roll; wrap up; wind, +rowin',rolling; wrapping up; winding, +royt,frolicsome; unruly; wild; riotous, +ruggin',pulling forcibly; tugging; tearing, +rulin',ruling, +'s,us; his; as; is,also has +s',shall, +sae,so; as, +saft,muddy; soft; silly; foolish, +safter,muddier; softer; sillier, +saft-hertit,soft-hearted, +saicrifeesed,sacrificed, +saiddle,saddle, +sailin',sailing, +sair,sore; sorely; sad; hard; very; greatly,also serve; satisfy +sair heid,headache, +saired,served, +sairer,harder; sadder; sorer, +sairest,sorest; hardest; saddest, +saitisfeed,satisfied, +saiven,seven, +saivenpence,sevenpence, +saivent,seventh, +sall,shall, +san',sand, +sanct,saint, +sancts,saints, +sang,song, +sang-buik,songbook, +sangs,songs, +sanna,shall not, +sark,shirt, +sarks,shirts, +sattle,settle, +sattled,settled, +saut,salt, +savin',saving,also except +savours,unctions, +saw,sow, +Sawbath,Sabbath; Sunday, +saws,sows, +Sawtan,Satan, +Sawton,Satan, +sax,six, +saxpence,sixpence, +saxpences,sixpences, +saxpenny,sixpence, +sayin',saying, +say't,say it, +scart,scratch; strike a match; scrape, +scathe,injury; loss; damage, +scatterin',scattering, +scaur,cliff; bare place on the side of a hill, +schochlin',waddling; mean, +schoolin',schooling; education, +schuil,school, +schule,school, +scomfish,suffocate; smother; choke, +scoonrel,scoundrel, +scraich,shriek; scream; bird's shrill cry, +screed,recite rapidly; talk tediously; reel off,also scraping sound; long thin strip +screeds,recites rapidly; talks tediously,also scraping sounds; long thin strips +screwin',screwing; scraping, +scrimpit,stunted, +Scripter,Scripture, +Scriptur,Scripture, +Scriptur',Scripture, +scunners,disgusts, +scushlin,slide; shuffle in walking, +scushlin',sliding; shuffling in walking, +seck,sack, +seein',seeing, +seekin',seeking, +see't,see it, +sel',self, +semi,second year's university student,especially at Aberdeen University +sen',send, +senawtus,senatus, +servan',servant, +servan's,servants, +servin',serving, +set,set out; start off; become,also inclined; disposed +Setterday,Saturday, +settin',setting, +Shackspere,Shakespeare, +shaidow,shadow, +shaidows,shadows, +shairper,sharper, +shak',shake, +shanna,shall not, +shargar,thin stunted person; scrag, +shaw,show; reveal,also grove +sheave,slice, +sheued,scared away; frightened away, +shillin',shilling, +shillins,shillings, +shimmerin',shimmering, +shinin',shining, +shochlin',waddling; in-kneed, +shoonless,shoeless; without shoes, +shoothers,shoulders, +shore,reaped; cut, +short-sichtit,near-sighted, +shouther,shoulder, +shouthers,shoulders, +shuits,suits, +shune,shoes, +sib,relation; akin; closely related, +sic,such; so; similar, +sicht,sight, +sichtit,sighted, +sichts,sights, +sicker,secure; safe; firm; sure, +sickerer,more secure; more sure, +signin',signing, +siller,silver; money; wealth, +sin,since; ago; since then,also sin; sun +sin',since; ago; since then, +singin',singing, +sipple,tipple, +sittin',sitting, +sizzon,season, +skatcher,skate, +sleek,smooth, +sleepin',sleeping, +sleepit,slept, +slidin',sliding, +slippit,slipped, +slocken,slake; drench; quench, +sloomin',slinking; sneaking, +slow-fittit,slow footed, +sma',small; little; slight; narrow; young, +smatchit,pert impudent child, +smellin',smelling, +smiddy,blacksmith's workshop, +smilet,smiled, +smilin',smiling, +smokin',smoking; smouldering, +smokit,smoked, +smoored,smothered; suffocated; stifled, +smore,smother; suffocate; stifle, +smo'red,smothered; suffocated; stifled, +snaw,snow, +sneeshin,snuff, +sneeshin',snuff, +snod,smooth; neat; trim; tidy; snug, +snodded,smoothed; trimmed; tidied, +snoot,snout; nose; face, +snubbert,nose; snout,contemptuous +sock,ploughshare, +socks,ploughshares, +sod,sad, +some,somewhat; rather; quite; very,also some +somehoo,somehow, +somewhaur,somewhere, +sonsy,well conditioned; good-tempered, +soo,ache; throb,also sow +sook,sip; drink; suck, +sooks,sucks, +soord,sword, +souffin',whistling in a low tone; humming, +sough,sigh; sound of wind; deep breath, +soun',sound, +soun'est,soundest, +sounies,little sounds,diminutive +sowl,soul, +spait,spate; flood, +spak,spoke, +spak',spoke, +spale,woodchip; woodshaving, +spales,woodchips; woodshavings, +spanged,leaped; bounded; sprung; spanned, +sparin',sparing, +spate,spate; flood, +speakin',speaking, +spean,wean, +speerit,spirit, +speerits,spirits, +speeritual,spiritual, +speik,speak, +speiken,speaking, +speikin',speaking, +speir,ask; enquire; question, +speired,asked; enquired; questioned, +speirin',asking; enquiring; questioning, +speirt,asked; enquired; questioned, +spells,woodchips; woodshavings, +spen'in',spending, +speyk,speak, +speyks,speaks, +spidder,spider, +spied,to prophesy?,possible past participle of spae +spier,ask; enquire; question, +spiered,asked; enquired; questioned, +spiers,asks; enquires; questions, +spinnin',spinning, +spite,provocation; disappointment, +spither,spider, +squaure,square, +stack,stuck, +staiggerin',staggering, +stammachfu',stomachful, +stammack,stomach, +stan',stand; stop, +stane,stone,also measure of weight; 1 stone = 14 pounds +stanes,stones, +stan'in,standing, +stan'in',standing, +stank,ditch; moat; pond, +stannin',standing, +stan's,stands, +starnie,very small quantity, +starns,stars, +startit,started, +statin',stating, +stave,short song, +stealin',stealing, +steekin',shutting; closing; clenching, +steekit,shut; closed; clenched, +steid,stayed, +steikit,shut; closed; clenched; stopped, +stent,leave off; cease; stop, +sterns,stars, +stew,dust; vapour; smoke,also stench; stink +sticket,stuck; gored,also unsuccessful or failing in one's profession +sticket minister,probationer who fails to obtain a,settled charge +stickin',sticking; goring, +stickit,stuck; gored,also unsuccessful or failing in one's profession +stickit minister,probationer who fails to obtain a,settled charge +stile,gate; passage over a wall, +stinkin',stinking, +stirkie,little steer; stupid fellow,diminutive +stockin',stocking, +stockin'-fit,feet clothed in stockings,i.e. without shoes +stoon,ache; throb, +stoor,dust (cloud); spray; gush, +stoorum,thin porridge; gruel, +stoppin',stopping, +stoppit,stopped, +stour,dust (cloud); spray; gush, +stown't,stolen it, +straik,stroke; blow; caress; comb,also streak +stramash,uproar; tumult; fuss; brawl, +strand,stream; rivulet;,also gutter +strang,strong, +strath,valley or plain,through which a river runs +straucht,straighten; straight, +strauchtforet,straightforward; forthwith, +straughtways,straightway, +stravaguin',saunter; stroll; go about aimlessly, +stucken,stuck, +stud,stood, +study,anvil, +stule,stool, +stumpin',hobbling; walking with a wooden leg, +subjec,subject, +subjec',subject, +suckin',sucking; nursing, +sucklin's,sucklings, +sud,should, +sudna,should not, +sufferin',suffering, +sune,soon; early, +suner,sooner, +sune's,soon as, +sung,singed, +sunlicht,sunlight, +sup,drink, +supperstitious,superstitious, +supposin',supposing, +sutor,shoemaker; cobbler, +swall,swell,also swallow; devour +swallowin',swallowing, +swarmin',swarming, +sweepit,swept, +sweer,swear,also lazy; slow; reluctant +sweerin',swearing, +sweir,swear, +sweirin',swearing, +sweyp,sweep, +swimmin',swimming, +syne,ago; since; then; at that time,also in (good) time +'t,it, +tae,toe; also tea,also the one; to +taed,toad, +taen,taken; seized, +ta'en,taken; seized, +taes,toes, +tag,whip; scourge,leather strap cut into strips +taicklet,tackled, +taings,tongs; prongs, +tak,take; seize, +tak',take; seize, +tak tent,look out; pay attention; watch; care, +tak' tent,look out; pay attention; watch; care, +takin',taking, +taks,takes; seizes, +tak's,takes; seizes,also take his +Tam,Tom, +tane,the one,also taken +tap,top; tip; head, +tap-dressin',top-dressing, +tappit,crested; having a top, +tappit hen,Scottish quart-measure of ale/claret, +tards,whip; scourge,leather strap cut into strips +tauld,told, +taws,leather strap cut into strips,used for school punishment +tawse,leather strap cut into strips,used for school punishment +tay,tea; supper, +teachin',teaching, +ted,child; diminutive person,term of disgust +teetles,titles, +tellin',telling, +tellt,told, +tell't,told, +telt,told, +tent,attention; care; heed; notice, +tertians,third year's students in arts,at Aberdeen University +teuk,took, +thack,thatch; cover; roof, +thae,those; these, +Thamas,Thomas, +than,then,also than +thankfu',thankful, +thankin',thanking, +thankit,thanked, +the day,today, +the morn,tomorrow, +the morn's,tomorrow is,also tomorrow +the nicht,tonight, +the noo,just now; now, +thegither,together, +them-lanes,on their own; alone, +themsels,themselves, +themsel's,themselves, +theroot,outside; out there; out-of-doors, +thievin',thieving, +thinkin',thinking, +thocht,thought, +thochtless,thoughtless, +thochtna,did not think, +thochts,thoughts, +thoom,thumb, +thoomb,thumb, +thoosan',thousand, +thoucht,thought, +thouchts,thoughts, +thow,thaw, +thrang,full; well filled; busy; crowded, +thrapple,windpipe; throat, +thrashin',threshing; beating, +thrashol',threshold, +thraw,throw; turn; twist, +thrawin',throwing; turning; twisting, +thrawn,thrown; turned; twisted, +thrivin',thriving, +throng,intimate, +throosh,thrashed; beat, +throu,through, +throu',through, +throughoot,throughout, +throuither,confused; disorderly, +throu't,through it, +throw,through, +til,to; till; until; about; at; before, +till,to; till; until; about; at; before, +till's,to his; to us, +till't,to it, +timmer,timber; wood, +timmer-leg,wooden leg, +tint,lost; got lost, +tippit,tipped, +tither,the other, +to the fore,remaining, +tobawco,tobacco, +tooer,tower, +toom,empty; unload, +toomed,emptied; unloaded, +toon,town; village, +toon-en',end of the main street,of a town or village +toons,towns; villages, +toot,tut!,exclamation of annoyance +Toots!,Tuts!; Tush!, +toun,town; village, +tow,rope; string; cable, +towie,string, +towmon,twelvemonth; year, +trail,drag forcibly; haul along, +train-ile,train oil; whale oil, +traitet,treated, +traivel,travel, +traivellin',travelling, +translatin',translating, +treatin',treating, +triacle,treacle, +tribble,trouble, +trimles,trembles, +triumphin',triumphing, +troublin',troubling, +trouth,truth; indeed,also used as an exclamation +trowth,truth; indeed,also used as an exclamation +truf,turf; sod; peat, +truff,turf; sod; peat, +tryin',trying, +'ts,its, +'tsel',itself, +tuik,took, +tumler,tumbler; glass (of whisky), +turnin',turning, +twa,two; a few, +twa three,several, +twal,twelve, +twal',twelve, +'twar,it were, +'twas,it was, +'tween,between, +twistin',twisting, +'twixt,betwixt; between, +tyke,dog,also rough clownish fellow +tykes,dogs, +tyne,lose; get lost; miss, +tynes,loses; gets lost; misses, +ugsome,disgusting; frightful; ghastly, +unce,ounce, +unceevil,uncivil, +unco,unknown; odd; strange; uncouth,also very great +unco',unknown; odd; strange; uncouth,also very great +undertakin',undertaking, +ungratefu',ungrateful, +unner,under, +unnerstan',understand, +unnerstans,understands, +unnertook,undertook, +unrichteous,unrighteous, +unshuitable,unsuitable, +up the stair,upstairs,also to heaven +upbraidin',upbraiding, +upbringin',upbringing; education; training, +uphaud,uphold; maintain; support, +upliftit,uplifted; elated, +upmak,make up; compensate,also fabrication; invention +upmak',make up; compensate,also fabrication; invention +upo',upon; on; to; at, +upo's,upon us; upon his, +upricht,upright, +vaigabon',vagabond, +vaigabone,vagabond, +vainished,vanished, +veesion,vision, +verra,very; true; real, +vertue,virtue, +vertues,virtues, +visitin',visiting, +vratch,wretch, +wa',wall,also way; away +wab,web, +wacht,weight,also guard; watch +wad,would,see also 'I wad'; pledge; promise; wager +wadna,would not, +wae,woe; sad; sorrowful, +waesome,sorrowful; sad, +waitin',waiting, +Walawa!,lamentation,exclamation of sorrow +wale,welt, +waled,thrashed, +walkin',walking, +walleen,well-eyes; quagmire-springs, +wame,belly; stomach; womb; hollow, +wan,reached; gained; got,also wan +wanner,more wan, +wantin',wanting; lacking; without; in want of, +wantit,wanted, +war,were, +wark,work; labour,also show of affection +warks,works, +warl,world; worldly goods,also a large number +warl',world; worldly goods,also a large number +warld,world, +warlock,wizard, +warna,were not, +warnin',warning, +warpit,warped, +warran',warrant; guarantee, +warst,worst, +warstle,wrestle, +warstlin',wrestling, +wa's,walls,also ways +washin',washing, +wasna,was not, +wast,west, +was't,was it, +wastit,wasted, +wastlin,westward; western, +wastrie,waste; extravagance, +wastry,waste; extravagance,also prodigal +wat,wet,see also 'I wat'; pledge promise +watchin',watching, +wather,weather, +watshod,with wet feet; brimful of tears, +watter,water, +wauk,wake, +waukin',waking, +wauk-mill,fulling-mill, +waur,worse,also spend money +waured,spent (money), +wee,small; little; bit,also short time; while +weel,well; fine,also happiness; prosperity; weal +weel-behaved,well-behaved, +weel-deserved,well-deserved, +weel-pleased,well-pleased, +weel's,well as, +weet,wet; dew; rain, +weicht,weight, +weir,wear,also hedge; fence; enclosure +wel,well, +weyd,weed, +weyds,weeds, +weyk,weak, +weyver,weaver; knitter,also knitter of stockings; spider +wha,who, +whaever,whoever, +whan,when, +whanever,whenever, +wha's,who is,also whose +whase,whose, +What for no?,Why not?, +What for?,Why?, +whaul,whale, +whaul-fishin',whale-fishing; whaling, +whauls,whales, +whaur,where, +whaur's,where is; where has, +whaur't,where it, +whaurupon,whereupon, +wheel,eddy; pool; deep still part of the river,also wheel; see also weel +wheelie,wheel,diminutive +wheen,little; few; number; quantity, +whiles,sometimes; at times; now and then, +whilie,short time, +whilk,which, +wholpies,silly stupid fellows, +whuch,which, +whunstane,whinstone, +whups,whipping, +whurlin',whirling, +whusky,whisky, +whustlin',whistling, +wi',with, +wice,wise, +widdiefows,gallows' birds; scamps,also small ill-tempered persons +wifies,women; landladies,term of endearment +willin',willing, +willin'ly,willingly, +wimmen,women, +win,reach; gain; get; go; come, +win',wind,also reach; gain; get; go; come +windin',winding, +win'in',winding, +winkit,winked, +winna,will not, +winnock-lug,window corner; side of the window, +winnocks,windows, +wins,reaches; gains; gets,also winds +wi'oot,without, +wi's,with us; with his, +wiss,wish, +wissin',wishing, +wi't,with it, +wite,blame; reproach; fault, +withoot,without, +won,reached; gained; got, +wonna,will not; won't, +wonner,wonder; marvel, +wonnerfu,wonderful; great; large, +wonnerfu',wonderful; great; large, +wonnerin',wondering, +wonno,will not, +workin',working, +worryin',worrying, +worshippin',worshipping, +wow,woe,exclamation of wonder or grief or satisfaction +wrang,wrong; injured, +wranged,wronged, +wrinklet,wrinkled, +wrocht,wrought, +wull,will; wish; desire,also astray; stray; wild +wumman,woman, +wynd,narrow lane or street; alley, +wyte,blame; reproach; fault, +yairds,yards; gardens,also yards (1 yard = 36 inches) +yallow,yellow, +ye,you; yourself, +ye'll,you will, +yer,your,also year +yer lane,on your own, +yer lanes,on your own, +ye're,you are, +yerl,earl, +yersel,yourself, +yersel',yourself, +yersels,yourselves, +ye't,it to you,also did you [get] it +yett,gate, +yetts,gates, +ye've,you have, +yill,ale, +yird,earth, +yon,that; those; that there; these, +yonner,yonder; over there; in that place, +yon's,that is; that (thing) there is, +younker,youngster, +yoursel',yourself, +yowth,youth, + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Alec Forbes of Howglen, by George MacDonald + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALEC FORBES OF HOWGLEN *** + +***** This file should be named 18810-0.txt or 18810-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/8/1/18810/ + +Produced by John Bechard (JaBBechard@aol.com) + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/18810-0.zip b/18810-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6b8e116 --- /dev/null +++ b/18810-0.zip diff --git a/18810.txt b/18810.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3472929 --- /dev/null +++ b/18810.txt @@ -0,0 +1,24478 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Alec Forbes of Howglen, by George MacDonald + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Alec Forbes of Howglen + +Author: George MacDonald + +Release Date: July 12, 2006 [EBook #18810] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALEC FORBES OF HOWGLEN *** + + + + +Produced by John Bechard (JaBBechard@aol.com) + + + + + +ALEC FORBES OF HOWGLEN + +BY + +GEORGE MACDONALD LL.D. + +NEW EDITION + +c. 1900 + +[Note from the producer: I have compiled a glossary with definitions +of most of the Scottish words found in this work and placed it at the +end of this electronic text. This glossary does not belong to the +original work, but is designed to help with the conversations and +references in Broad Scots found in this work. A further explanation of +this list can be found towards the end of this document, preceding the +glossary.] + + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +The farm-yard was full of the light of a summer noontide. Nothing can +be so desolately dreary as full strong sunlight can be. Not a living +creature was to be seen in all the square inclosure, though cow-houses +and stables formed the greater part of it, and one end was occupied by +a dwelling-house. Away through the gate at the other end, far off in +fenced fields, might be seen the dark forms of cattle; and on a road, +at no great distance, a cart crawled along, drawn by one sleepy horse. +An occasional weary low came from some imprisoned cow--or animal of the +cow-kind; but not even a cat crossed the yard. The door of the barn was +open, showing a polished floor, as empty, bright, and clean as that of +a ball-room. And through the opposite door shone the last year's ricks +of corn, golden in the sun. + +Now, although a farm-yard is not, either in Scotland or elsewhere, the +liveliest of places in ordinary, and still less about noon in summer, +yet there was a peculiar cause rendering this one, at this moment, +exceptionally deserted and dreary. But there were, notwithstanding, a +great many more people about the place than was usual, only they were +all gathered together in the ben-end, or best room of the house--a room +of tolerable size, with a clean boarded floor, a mahogany table, black +with age, and chairs of like material, whose wooden seats, and high, +straight backs, were more suggestive of state than repose. Every one of +these chairs was occupied by a silent man, whose gaze was either fixed +on the floor, or lost in the voids of space. Each wore a black coat, +and most of them were in black throughout. Their hard, thick, brown +hands--hands evidently unused to idleness--grasped their knees, or, +folded in each other, rested upon them. Some bottles and glasses, with +a plate of biscuits, on a table in a corner, seemed to indicate that +the meeting was not entirely for business purposes; and yet there were +no signs of any sort of enjoyment. Nor was there a woman to be seen in +the company. + +Suddenly, at the open door, appeared a man whose shirt-sleeves showed +very white against his other clothing which, like that of the rest, was +of decent black. He addressed the assembly thus: + +"Gin ony o' ye want to see the corp, noo's yer time." + +To this offer no one responded; and, with a slight air of discomfiture, +for he was a busy man, and liked bustle, the carpenter turned on his +heel, and re-ascended the narrow stairs to the upper room, where the +corpse lay, waiting for its final dismission and courted oblivion. + +"I reckon they've a' seen him afore," he remarked, as he rejoined his +companion. "Puir fallow! He's unco (uncouthly) worn. There'll no be +muckle o' _him_ to rise again." + +"George, man, dinna jeest i' the face o' a corp," returned the other. +"Ye kenna whan yer ain turn may come." + +"It's no disrespeck to the deid, Thamas. That ye ken weel eneuch. I was +only pityin' the worn face o' him, leukin up there atween the buirds, +as gin he had gotten what he wanted sae lang, and was thankin' heaven +for that same. I jist dinna like to pit the lid ower him." + +"Hoot! hoot! Lat the Lord luik efter his ain. The lid o' the coffin +disna hide frae his een." + +The last speaker was a stout, broad-shouldered man, a stonemason by +trade, powerful, and somewhat asthmatic. He was regarded in the +neighbourhood as a very religious man, but was more respected than +liked, because his forte was rebuke. It was from deference to him that +the carpenter had assumed a mental position generating a poetic mood +and utterance quite unusual with him, for he was a jolly, careless kind +of fellow, well-meaning and good-hearted. + +So together they lifted the last covering of the dead, laid it over +him, and fastened it down. And there was darkness about the dead; but +he knew it not, because he was full of light. For this man was one who, +all his life, had striven to be better. + +Meantime, the clergyman having arrived, the usual religious ceremonial +of a Scotch funeral--the reading of the Word and prayer--was going on +below. This was all that gave the burial any sacred solemnity; for at +the grave the Scotch terror of Popery forbids any observance of a +religious character. The voice of the reader was heard in the chamber +of death. + +"The minister's come, Thamas." + +"Come or gang," said Thomas, "it's muckle the same. The word itsel' oot +o' his mou' fa's as deid as chaff upo' clay. Honest Jeames there'll +rise ance mair; but never a word that man says, wi' the croon o' 's +heid i' the how o' 's neck, 'll rise to beir witness o' his +ministrations." + +"Hoot, Thamas! It's no for the likes o' me to flee i' your face--but +jist say a fair word for the livin' ower the deid, ye ken." + +"Na, na. It's fair words maks foul wark; and the wrath o' the Almichty +maun purge this toon or a' be dune. There's a heap o' graceless gaeins +on in't; and that puir feckless body, the minister, never gies a pu' at +the bridle o' salvation, to haud them aff o' the scaur (cliff) o' +hell." + +The stone-mason generally spoke of the Almighty as if he were in a +state of restrained indignation at the wrongs he endured from his +children. If Thomas was right in this, then certainly he himself was +one of his offspring. If he was wrong, then there was much well worth +his unlearning. + +The prayer was soon over, and the company again seated themselves, +waiting till the coffin should be placed in the hearse, which now stood +at the door. + +"We'll jist draw the cork o' anither boatle," whispered a sharp-faced +man to his neighbour. + +And rising, he opened two bottles, and filled the glasses the second +time with wine, red and white, which he handed to the minister first. + +"Tak' a drappy mair, sir," he whispered in a coaxing, old-wivish tone; +"it's a lang road to the kirkyard." + +But the minister declining, most of the others followed his example. +One after another they withdrew to the door, where the hearse was now +laden with the harvest of the grave. + +Falling in behind the body, they moved in an irregular procession from +the yard. Outside, they were joined by several more in gigs and on +horseback; and thus they crept, a curious train, away towards the +resting-place of the dead. + +It were a dreary rest, indeed, if that were their resting-place--on the +side of a low hill, without tree or shrub to beautify it, or even the +presence of an old church to seem to sanctify the spot. There was some +long grass in it, though, clambering up as if it sought to bury the +gravestones in their turn. And that long grass was a blessing. Better +still, there was a sky overhead, in which men cannot set up any +gravestones. But if any graveyard be the type of the rest expected by +those left behind, it is no wonder they shrink from joining those that +are away. + + + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +When the last man had disappeared, the women, like those of an eastern +harem, began to come out. The first that entered the deserted room was +a hard-featured, reproachful-looking woman, the sister of the departed. +She instantly began to put the place in order, as if she expected her +turn to come on the morrow. In a few moments more a servant appeared, +and began to assist her. The girl had been crying, and the tears would +still come, in spite of her efforts to repress them. In the vain +attempt to dry her eyes with the corner of her apron, she nearly +dropped one of the chairs, which she was simultaneously dusting and +restoring to its usual place. Her mistress turned upon her with a kind +of cold fierceness. + +"Is that hoo ye shaw yer regaird to the deid, by brackin' the cheirs he +left ahin' him? Lat sit, an' gang an' luik for that puir, doited thing, +Annie. Gin it had only been the Almichty's will to hae ta'en her, an' +left him, honest man!" + +"Dinna daur to say a word again' the bairn, mem. The deid'll hear ye, +an' no lie still." + +"Supperstitious quean! Gang an' do as I tell ye this minute. What +business hae ye to gang greetin aboot the hoose? He was no drap's bluid +o' yours!" + +To this the girl made no reply, but left the room in quest of Annie. +When she reached the door, she stood for a moment on the threshold, +and, putting her hand over her eyes, shouted "_Annie_!" But, apparently +startled at the sound of her own voice where the unhearing dead had so +lately passed, she let the end of the call die away in a quaver, and, +without repeating it, set off to find the missing child by the use of +her eyes alone. First she went into the barn, and then through the barn +into the stack-yard, and then round the ricks one after another, and +then into the corn-loft; but all without avail. At length, as she was +beginning to feel rather alarmed about the child, she arrived, in the +progress of her search, at the door of one of the cow-houses. The +moment she looked round the corner into the stall next the door, she +stood stock-still, with her mouth wide open. This stall was occupied by +a favourite cow--brown, with large white spots, called therefore +_Brownie_. Her manger was full of fresh-cut grass; and half-buried in +this grass, at one end of the manger, with her back against the wall, +sat Annie, holding one of the ears of the hornless Brownie with one +hand and stroking the creature's nose with the other. + +She was a delicate child, about nine years old, with blue eyes, half +full of tears, hair somewhere between dark and fair, gathered in a silk +net, and a pale face, on which a faint moon-like smile was glimmering. +The old cow continued to hold her nose to be stroked. + +"Is na Broonie a fine coo, Betty?" said the child, as the maid went on +staring at her. "Puir Broonie! Naebody mindit me, an' sae I cam to you, +Broonie." + +And she laid her cheek, white, smooth, and thin, against the broad, +flat, hairy forehead of the friendly cow. Then turning again to Betty, +she said-- + +"Dinna tell auntie whaur I am, Betty. Lat me be. I'm best here wi' +Broonie." + +Betty said never a word, but returned to her mistress. + +"Whaur's the bairn, Betty? At some mischeef or ither, I'll wad." + +"Hoot! mem, the bairn's weel eneuch. Bairns maunna be followed like +carr (calves)." + +"Whaur is she?" + +"I canna jist doonricht exackly tak upo' me to say," answered Betty; +"but I hae no fear aboot her. She's a wise bairn." + +"Ye're no the lassie's keeper, Betty. I see I maun seek her mysel'. +Ye're aidin' an' abettin' as usual." + +So saying, Auntie Meg went out to look for her niece. It was some time +before the natural order of her search brought her at last to the +_byre_. By that time Annie was almost asleep in the grass, which the +cow was gradually pulling away from under her. Through the open door +the child could see the sunlight lying heavy upon the hot stones that +paved the yard; but in here it was so dark-shadowy and cool, and the +cow was such good, kindly company, and she was so safe hidden from +auntie, as she thought--for no one had ever found her there before, and +she knew Betty would not tell--that, as I say, she was nearly asleep +with comfort, half-buried in Brownie's dinner. + +But she was roused all at once to a sense of exposure and insecurity. +She looked up, and at the same moment the hawk-nose of her aunt came +round the _door-cheek_. Auntie's temper was none the better than usual +that it had pleased the _Almichty_ to take the brother whom she loved, +and to leave behind the child whom she regarded as a painful +responsibility. And now with her small, fierce eyes, and her big, thin +nose--both red with suppressed crying--she did not dawn upon the sense +of Annie as an embodiment of the maternity of the universe. + +"Ye plaguesome brat!" cried Auntie; "there has Betty been seekin' ye, +and I hae been seekin' ye, far an' near, i' the verra rottan-holes; an' +here ye are, on yer ain father's buryin' day, that comes but +ance--takin' up wi' a coo." + +But the causes of Annie's preference of the society of Brownie to that +of Auntie might have been tolerably clear to an onlooker, without word +spoken. For to Annie and her needs, notwithstanding the humble +four-footedness of Brownie, there was in her large mild eyes, and her +hairy, featureless face, all nose and no nose, more of the divine than +in the human form of Auntie Meg. And there was something of an +indignation quite human in the way the cow tossed her bound head and +neck towards the woman that darkened the door, as if warning her off +her premises. But without a word of reply, Annie rose, flung her arms +around Brownie's head, kissed the white star on her forehead, +disengaged herself from the grass, and got out of the manger. Auntie +seized her hand with a rough action, but not ungentle grasp, and led +her away to the house. The stones felt very hot to her little bare +feet. + + + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +By this time the funeral was approaching the churchyard at a more rapid +pace; for the pedestrians had dropped away one by one, on diverging +roads, or had stopped and retraced their steps. But as they drew near +the place, the slow trot subsided into a slow walk once more. To an +English eye the whole mode would have appeared barbarous. But if the +carved and gilded skulls and cross-bones on the hearse were +ill-conceived, at least there were no awful nodding plumes to make +death hideous with yet more of cloudy darkness; and one of the panels +showed, in all the sunshine that golden rays could yield, the +Resurrection of the Lord--the victory over the grave. And, again, when +they stopped at the gate of the churchyard, they were the hands of +friends and neighbours, and not those of cormorant undertakers and +obscene mutes, that bore the dead man to his grave. And, once more, if +the only rite they observed, when the body had settled into its place +of decay, was the silent uncovering of the head, as a last token of +respect and farewell, it may be suggested that the Church of England +herself, in all her beautiful service, has no prayer for the departed +soul, which cannot be beyond the need of prayer, as the longings that +follow it into the region of the Unknown, are not beyond its comfort. + +Before the grave was quite filled the company had nearly gone. Thomas +Crann, the stone-mason, and George Macwha, the _wright_, alone remained +behind, for they had some charge over the arrangements, and were now +taking a share in covering the grave. At length the last sod was laid +upon the mound, and stamped into its place, where soon the earth's +broken surface would heal, as society would flow together again, +closing over the place that had known the departed, and would know him +no more. Then Thomas and George sat down, opposite to each other, on +two neighbouring tombstones, and wiping their brows, gave each a sigh +of relief, for the sun was hot and oppressive. + +"Hech! it's a weary warl," said George. + +"Ye hae no richt to say sae, George," answered Thomas, "for ye hae +never met it, an' foughten wi' 't. Ye hae never draan the soord o' the +Lord and o' Gideon. Ye hae never broken the pitcher, to lat the lamp +shine out, an' I doubt ye hae smo'red it by this time. And sae, whan +the bridegroom comes, ye'll be ill-aff for a licht." + +"Hoot, man! dinna speak sic awfu' things i' the verra kirkyard." + +"Better hear them i' the kirkyard than at the closed door, George!" + +"Weel, but," rejoined Macwha, anxious to turn the current of the +conversation, which he found unpleasantly personal, "jist tell me +honestly, Thamas Crann, do ye believe, wi' a' yer heart an' sowl, that +the deid man--Gude be wi' him!--" + +"No prayin' for the deid i' my hearin', George! As the tree falleth, so +it shall lie." + +"Weel! weel! I didna mean onything." + +"That I verily believe. Ye seldom do!" + +"But I jist want to speir," resumed George, with some asperity, getting +rather nettled at his companion's persistent discourtesy, "gin ye +believe that Jeames Anderson here, honest man, aneath our feet, +crumblin' awa', as ye ken, and no ae spoke o' his wheel to the fore, or +lang, to tell what his cart was like--do ye believe that his honest +face will, ae day, pairt the mouls, an' come up again, jist here, i' +the face o' the light, the verra same as it vanished whan we pat the +lid ower him? Do ye believe that, Thamas Crann?" + +"Na, na, George, man. Ye ken little what ye're busiest sayin'. It'll be +a glorifeed body that he'll rise wi'. It's sown in dishonour, and +raised in glory. Hoot! hoot! ye _are_ ignorant, man!" + +Macwha got more nettled still at his tone of superiority. + +"Wad it be a glorifeed timmer-leg he rase wi', gin he had been buried +wi' a timmer-leg?" asked he. + +"His ain leg wad be buried some gait." + +"Ow ay! nae doubt. An' it wad come happin' ower the Paceefic, or the +Atlantic, to jine its oreeginal stump--wad it no? But supposin' the man +had been born _wantin'_ a leg--eh, Thamas?" + +"George! George!" said Thomas, with great solemnity, "luik ye efter yer +sowl, an' the Lord'ill luik after yer body, legs an' a'! Man, ye're no +convertit, an' hoo can ye unnerstan' the things o' the speerit? Aye +jeerin', an' jeerin'!" + +"Weel! weel! Thamas," rejoined Macwha, mollified in perceiving that he +had not had altogether the worst in the tilt of words; "I wad only tak' +the leeberty o' thinkin' that, when He was aboot it, the Almighty micht +as weel mak' a new body a'thegither, as gang patchin' up the auld ane. +Sae I s' twa hame." + +"Mind ye yer immortal pairt, George," said Thomas with a final thrust, +as he likewise rose to go home with him on the box of the hearse. + +"Gin the Lord tak's sic guid care o' the body, Thamas," retorted +Macwha, with less of irreverence than appeared in his words, "maybe he +winna objec' to gie a look to my puir soul as weel; for they say it's +worth a hantle mair. I wish he wad, for he kens better nor me hoo to +set aboot the job." + +So saying, he strode briskly over the graves and out of the churchyard, +leaving Thomas to follow as fast as suited his unwieldy strength. + + + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +Meantime another conversation was going on in one of the gigs, as it +bore two of the company from the place of tombs, which will serve a +little for the purposes of this history. One of the twain was a cousin +of the deceased, already incidentally mentioned as taking some +direction in the matter of refreshment. His name was no less than +Robert Bruce. The other was called Andrew Constable, and was a worthy +elder of the kirk. + +"Weel, Robert," began the latter, after they had jogged on in silence +for half a mile or so, "what's to be done wi' little Annie Anderson and +her Auntie Meg, noo that the douce man's gane hame, an' left them +theroot, as't war?" + +"They canna hae that muckle to the fore efter the doctor an' a' 's +sattled for." + +"It's no to be thought. It's lang sin' ever he wrought a day's darg +(contracted from 'daywerk')." + +"Jeames Dow luikit weel after the farmin', though." + +"Nae doot. He's a guid servant that, to ony man he ca's master. But +there canna be muckle siller to the fore." + +A pause followed. + +"What think ye noo, Andrew?" recommenced Bruce. "Ye're weel kent for an +honest an' a langheided man. Do ye think that folk wad expec' onything +o' me gin the warst cam to the warst?" + +"Weel, Robert, I dinna think there's muckle guid in luikin' to what +fowk micht or micht not expec' o' ye." + +"That's jist what I was thinkin' mysel'; for, ye see, I hae a sma' +family o' my ain to haud chowin' already." + +"Nae doot--nae doot. But--" + +"Ay, ay; I ken what ye wad say. I maunna a'thegither disregaird what +fowk think, 'cause there's the chop (shop); an' gin I ance got--no to +say an ill name, but jist the wind o' no being sae considerate as I +micht hae been, there's no sayin' but twa or three micht gang by my +door, and across to Jamie Mitchell's yonner." + +"Do ye what's richt, Robert Bruce, and sae defy fowk and fairy." + +"Na, na, that winna _aye_ work. A body maun tak' care o' their ain, +else wha's to do't?" + +"Weel," rejoined Andrew with a smile, for he understood Bruce well +enough, although he pretended to have mistaken his meaning--"weel, gin +the bairnie falls to you, nae doot ye maun take chairge o' her." + +"I dinna mean Jeames Anderson's bairns--I mean my ain bairns." + +"Robert, whatever way ye decide, I houp it may be sic a deceesion as +will admit o' yer castin' yer care upo' _Him_." + +"I ken a' aboot that, Andrew. But my opeenion upo' that text is jist +this--that ilka vessel has to haud the fill o' 't, and what rins ower +may be committed to Him, for ye can haud it no langer. Them that winna +tak tent (care) 'll tak scathe. It's a sweer (lazy) thochtless way to +gang to the Almichty wi' ilka fash. Whan I'm driven to ane mair, that +ane sall aye be Him. Ye min' the story about my namesake and the +spidder?" + +"Ay, weel eneuch," answered Andrew. + +But he did not proceed to remark that he could see no connection +between that story and the subject in hand, for Bruce's question did +not take him by surprise, it being well understood that he was in the +habit of making all possible and some impossible references to his +great namesake. Indeed, he wished everybody to think, though he seldom +ventured to assert it plainly, that he was lineally descended from the +king. Nor did Andrew make further remark of any sort with regard to the +fate of Annie or the duty of Bruce, for he saw that his companion +wanted no advice--only some talk, and possibly some sympathy with his +perplexity as to what the world might think of him. But with this +perplexity Andrew could accord him very little sympathy indeed; for he +could not take much interest in the buttressing of a reputation which +he knew to be already quite undermined by widely-reported acts of petty +meanness and selfishness. Nor was this fact much to be wondered at, if +his principles were really those which he had so openly advocated. +Indeed, Andrew knew well that it would be a bad day for poor Annie when +she came under Bruce's roof, and therefore sincerely hoped that Auntie +Meg might find some way of managing so as to avoid parting with the +child; for he knew, too, that, though her aunt was fierce and hard, she +had yet a warm spot somewhere about her heart. + +Margaret Anderson had known perfectly well for some time that she and +Annie must part before long. The lease of the farm would expire at the +close of the autumn of next year; and as it had been rather a losing +affair for some time, she had no inclination to request a renewal. When +her brother's debts should be paid, there would not remain, even after +the sale of the stock, more than a hundred and fifty pounds. For +herself, she believed she must go into service--which would hurt her +pride more than it would alter her position, for her hands had done far +more of the necessary labour than those of the maid who assisted her. +Indeed, in her proudest mood, she would have welcomed death rather than +idleness. What was to become of Annie she did not yet see. + +Meantime there remained for the child just a year more of the native +farm, with all the varieties of life which had been so dear to her. +Auntie Meg did not spare to put her in mind of the coming change; but +it seemed to Annie so long in coming that it never would come. The +impression was worn off by the daily attempt to deepen it, she gave +herself up to the childish pleasures within her reach, without thinking +of their approaching loss. + + + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +And why should Annie think of the future? The future was not: the +present was--and full of delights. If she did not receive much +tenderness from auntie, at least she was not afraid of her. The +pungency of her temper was but as the salt and vinegar which brought +out the true flavour of the other numberless pleasures around her. Were +her excursions far afield, perched aloft on Dowie's shoulder, and +holding on by the top of his head, or clinging to his back with her +arms round his neck, at all the less delightful that auntie was +scolding at home? They would have been less delightful if she had +thought of the future; but she thought only of the present joy; or +rather she took it as it came, and let it play upon her, without +thinking about it at all. And if she was late for one of her meals, for +Annie had no very correct sense of the lapse of time, and auntie had +declared she should go fasting, it was yet not without her connivance +that rosy-faced Betty got the child the best of everything that was at +hand, and put cream in her milk, and butter on her oat cake, Annie +managing to consume everything with satisfaction, notwithstanding the +hurdy-gurdy accompaniment of her aunt's audible reflections. And +Brownie was always friendly; ever ready on any serious emergency, when +auntie's temper was still less placid than usual, to yield a corner of +her manger for a refuge to the child. And the cocks and hens, even the +peacock and the turkey-cock, knew her perfectly, and would come when +she called them, if not altogether out of affection for her, at least +out of hope in her bounty; and she had not yet arrived at the painful +wisdom of beginning to question motives--a wisdom which misleads more +than it guides. She loved _them_, and that was enough for her. And she +would ride the horses to water, sitting sideways on their broad backs +like a barefooted lady; for Dowie had such respect for his little +mistress, as he called her, that he would never let her get astride +"like a laddie," however much she wanted to do so. And when the morning +was wet, and the sound of the flails came to her from the barn, she +would watch for the moment when her aunt's back would be turned, and +then scurry across the yard, like a mouse to its hole; for auntie's +first impulse was always to oppose whatever Annie desired. Once in the +barn, she would bury herself like a mole in the straw, and listen to +the unfailing metronome of the flails, till she would fall so fast +asleep as to awake only when her uncomfortable aunt, believing that at +last the awful something or other _had_ happened to the _royt_ lassie, +dragged her out ignominiously by the heels. But the _royt_ lassie was +one of the gentlest of girls, what adventurousness she had being the +result of faith, and not of hardihood. + +And then came the delights of the harvest-field--soon to become great +golden splendours to the memory. With the reapers she would remain from +morning till night, sharing in their meals, and lightening their labour +with her gentle frolic. Every day, after the noon-tide meal, she would +go to sleep on the shady side of a _stook_, upon two or three sheaves +which Dowie would lay down for her in a choice spot. Indeed the little +mistress was very fond of sleep, and would go to sleep anywhere; this +habit being indeed one of her aunt's chief grounds of complaint. For +before hay-time, for instance, when the grass was long in the fields, +if she came upon any place that took her fancy, she would tumble down +at once, and show that she loved it by going to sleep upon it. Then it +was no easy task to find her amidst the long grass that closed over +her, as over a bird in its nest. But the fact was, this habit indicated +a feebleness of constitution, to which sleep itself was the best +restorative. And in the harvest-field, at least, no harm could come of +it; for Dooie, as she always called him, watched her like a mother; so +that sometimes when she awoke, she would find a second stook of ten +sheaves, with a high-uplifted crowning pair above, built at right +angles to the first, to shelter her from the sun which had peered round +the corner, and would soon have stared her awake. + +The only discomfort of the harvest-field was, that the sharp stubble +forced her to wear shoes. But when the corn had all been carried home, +and the potatoes had been dug up and heaped in warm pits against the +winter, and the mornings and evenings grew cold, and, though still +friendly to strong men and women, were rather too keen for delicate +little Annie--she had to put on both shoes and stockings, which she did +not like at all. + +So with "gentle gliding," through a whole winter of ice and snow, +through a whole spring of promises tardily fulfilled, through a summer +of glory, and another autumn of harvest joy, the day drew on when they +must leave the farm. And still to Annie it seemed as far off as ever. + + + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +One lovely evening in October, when the shadows were falling from the +western sun, and the light that made them was as yellow as a marigold, +and a keen little wind was just getting ready to come out and blow the +moment the sun would be out of sight, Annie, who was helping to fasten +up the cows for the night, drawing iron chains round their soft necks, +saw a long shadow coming in at the narrow entrance of the yard. It came +in and in; and was so long in coming in, that she began to feel as if +it was something not quite _cannie_, and to fancy herself frightened. +But, at length, she found that the cause of the great shadow was only a +little man; and that this little man was no other than her father's +cousin, Robert Bruce. Alas! how little a man may cast a great shadow! + +He came up to Annie, and addressed her in the smoothest voice he could +find, fumbling at the same time in his coat-pocket. + +"Hoo are ye the nicht dawtie? Are ye verra weel? An' hoo's yer auntie?" + +He waited for no reply to any of these questions, but went on. + +"See what I hae brocht ye frae the chop." + +So saying, he put into her hand about half-a-dozen _sweeties_, screwed +up in a bit of paper. With this gift he left her, and walked on to the +open door of the house, which, as a cousin, he considered himself +privileged to enter unannounced even by a knock. He found the mistress +of it in the kitchen, superintending the cooking of the supper. + +"Hoo are ye the nicht, Marget?" he said, still in a tone of +conciliatory smoothness, through which, however, he could not prevent a +certain hardness from cropping out plentifully. "Ye're busy as usual, I +see. Weel, the hand o' the diligent maketh rich, ye ken." + +"That portion o' the Word maun be o' leemited application, I doot," +returned Marget, as, withdrawing her hand from her cousin's, she turned +again to the pot hanging over the fire. "No man daurs to say that my +han' has not been the han' o' the diligent; but Guid kens I'm nane the +richer." + +"We maunna repine, Marget. Richt or wrang, it's the Lord's will." + +"It's easy to you, Robert Bruce, wi' yer siller i' the bank, to speik +that gait til a puir lone body like me, that maun slave for my bread +whan I'm no sae young as I micht be. No that I'm like to dee o' auld +age either." + +"I haena sae muckle i' the bank as some folk may think; though what +there is is safe eneuch. But I hae a bonny business doun yonner, and it +micht be better yet. It's jist the land o' Goshen, only it wants a +wheen mair tap-dressin'." + +"Tak it frae the bank, than, Robert." + +"The bank! said ye, Marget? I canna do that." + +"And what for no?" + +"'Cause I'm jist like the hens, Marget. Gin they dinna see ae egg i' +the nest, they hae no hert to lay anither. I daurna meddle wi' the +bank." + +"Weel, lat sit than; an' lay awa' at yer leisur'. Hoo's the mistress?" + +"No that weel, and no that ill. The faimily's rather sair upo' her. But +I canna haud her oot o' the chop for a' that. She's like mysel'--she +wad aye be turnin' a bawbee. But what are ye gaein to do yersel', +Marget?" + +"I'm gaein to my uncle and aunt--auld John Peterson and his wife. +They're gey and frail noo, and they want somebody to luik efter them." + +"Than ye're weel provided for; Praise be thankit! Marget." + +"Ow, ay; nae doot," replied Marget, with bitterness, of which Bruce +took no notice. + +"And what's to come o' the bairnie?" pursued he. + +"I maun jist get some dacent auld body i' the toon to tak' her in, and +lat her gang to the schuil. It's time. The auld fowk wadna pit up wi' +her a week." + +"And what'll that cost ye, Marget?" + +"I dinna ken. But the lassie's able to pay for her ain upbringin'." + +"It's no far 'at a hunner and fifty'll gang i' thae times, woman. An' +it's a pity to tak frae the prencipal. She'll be merryin' some day." + +"Ow, 'deed, maybe. Bairns will be fules." + +"Weel, end na ye pit it oot at five per cent., and there wad aye be +something comin' o' 't? That wad be seven pun' ten i' the year, an' the +bairnie micht amaist--no freely but nigh-han'--be broucht up upo' +that." + +Margaret lifted her head and looked at him. + +"An' wha wad gie five per cent. for her bit siller, whan he can get it +frae the bank, on guid security, for four an' a half?" + +"Jist mysel', Marget. The puir orphan has naebody but you and me to +luik till; an' I wad willin'ly do that muckle for her. I'll tell ye +what--I'll gie her five per cent. for her siller; and for the bit +interest, I'll tak her in wi' my ain bairns, an' she s' hae bit and sup +wi' them, an' gang to the school wi' them, and syne--efter a bit--we'll +see what comes neist." + +To Margaret this seemed a very fair offer. It was known to all that the +Bruce children were well-enough dressed for their station, and looked +well-fed; and although Robert had the character of being somewhat mean, +she did not regard that as the worst possible fault, or one likely to +operate for the injury of the child. So she told her cousin that she +would think about it; which was quite as much as he could have +expected. He took his leave all but satisfied that he had carried his +point, and not a little uplifted with his prospects. + +For was it not a point worth carrying--to get both the money and the +owner of it into his own hands? Not that he meant conscious dishonesty +to Annie. He only rejoiced to think that he would thus satisfy any +expectations that the public might have formed of him, and would enjoy +besides a splendid increase of capital for his business; while he hoped +to keep the girl upon less than the interest would come to. And then, +if anything should happen to her--seeing she was not over vigorous--the +result was worth waiting for; whereas--if she throve--he had sons +growing up, one of whom might take a fancy to the heiress, and would +have facilities for marrying her, &c. &c.; for Grocer Robert was as +deep in his foresight and scheming as King Robert, the crowning triumph +of whose intellect, in the eyes of his descendant, was the strewing of +the caltrops on the field of Bannockburn. + +But James Dow was _ill-pleased_ when he heard of the arrangement--which +was completed in due time. "For," said he, "I canna bide that Bruce. +He's a naisty mean cratur. He wadna fling a bane till a dog, afore he +had ta'en a pyke at it himsel'." He agreed, however, with his mistress, +that it would be better to keep Annie in ignorance of her destiny as +long as possible; a consideration which sprung from the fact that her +aunt, now that she was on the eve of parting with her, felt a little +delicate growth of tenderness sprouting over the old stone wall of her +affection for the child, owing its birth, in part, to the doubt whether +she would be comfortable in her new home. + + + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +A day that is fifty years off comes as certainly as if it had been in +the next week; and Annie's feeling of infinite duration did not stop +the sand-glass of Old Time. The day arrived when everything was to be +sold by public _roup_. A great company of friends, neighbours, and +acquaintances gathered; and much drinking of whisky-punch went on in +the kitchen as well as in the room where, a few months before, the +solemn funeral-assembly had met. + +Little Annie speedily understood what all the bustle meant: that the +day of desolation so long foretold by the Cassandra-croak of her aunt, +had at length actually arrived, and that all the things she knew so +well were vanishing from her sight for ever. + +She was in the barn when the sound of the auctioneer's voice in the +corn-yard made her look over the half-door and listen. Gradually the +truth dawned upon her; and she burst into tears over an old rake which +she had been accustomed to call hers, because she had always dragged it +at hay-making. Then wiping her eyes hastily--for, partly from her +aunt's hardness, she never could bear to be seen crying, even when a +child--she fled to Brownie's stall, and burying herself in the manger, +began weeping afresh. After a while, the fountain of tears was for the +time exhausted, and she sat disconsolately gazing at the old cow +feeding away, as if food were everything and a _roup_ nothing at all, +when footsteps approached the _byre_, and, to her dismay, two men, whom +she did not know, came in, untied Brownie, and actually led her away +from before her eyes. She still stared at the empty space where Brownie +had stood,--stared like a creature stranded by night on the low coast +of Death, before whose eyes in the morning the sea of Life is visibly +ebbing away. At last she started up. How could she sit there without +Brownie! Sobbing so that she could not breathe, she rushed across the +yard, into the crowded and desecrated house, and up the stair to her +own little room, where she threw herself on the bed, buried her eyes in +the pillow, and, overcome with grief, fell fast asleep. + +When she woke in the morning, she remembered nothing of Betty's +undressing and putting her to bed. The dreadful day that was gone +seemed only a dreadful dream, that had left a pain behind it. But when +she went out, she found that yesterday would not stay amongst her +dreams. Brownie's stall was empty. The horses were all gone, and many +of the cattle. Those that remained looked like creatures forgotten. The +pigs were gone, and most of the poultry. Two or three favourite hens +were left, which auntie was going to take with her. But of all the +living creatures she had loved, not one had been kept for Annie. Her +life grew bitter with the bitterness of death. + +In the afternoon, her aunt came up to her room, where she sat in +tearful silence, and telling her that she was going to take her into +the town, proceeded, without further explanation, to put all her little +personal effects into an old hair-trunk, which Annie called her own. +Along with some trifles that lay about the room, she threw into the +bottom of the box about a dozen of old books, which had been on the +chest of drawers since long before Annie could remember. She, poor +child, let her do as she pleased, and asked no questions; for the +shadow in which she stood was darkening, and she did not care what came +next. For an hour the box stood on the floor like a coffin, and then +Betty came, with red eyes and a red nose, and carried it downstairs. +Then auntie came up again, dressed in her Sunday clothes. She put on +Annie's best frock and bonnet--adorning the victim for sacrifice--at +least, so Annie's face would have suggested--and led her down to the +door. There stood a horse and cart. In the cart was some straw, and a +sack stuffed with hay. As auntie was getting into the cart, Betty +rushed out from somewhere upon Annie, caught her up, kissed her in a +vehement and disorderly manner, and before her mistress could turn +round in the cart, gave her into James Dow's arms, and vanished with +strange sounds of choking. Dowie thought to put her in with a kiss, for +he dared not speak; but Annie's arms went round his neck, and she clung +to him sobbing--clung till she roused the indignation of auntie, at the +first sound of whose voice, Dowie was free, and Annie lying in the +cart, with her face buried in the straw. Dowie then mounted in front, +with his feet on the shaft; the horse--one Annie did not know--started +off gently; and she was borne away helpless to meet the unknown. + +And the road was like the going. She had often been upon it before, but +it had never looked as it did now. The first half-mile went through +fields whose crops were gone. The stubble was sticking through the +grass, and the potato stalks, which ought to have been gathered and +burnt, lay scattered about all over the brown earth. Then came two +miles of moorland country, high, and bleak, and barren, with hillocks +of peat in all directions, standing beside the black holes whence they +had been dug. These holes were full of dark water, frightful to look +at; while along the side of the road went deep black ditches half-full +of the same dark water. There was no danger of the cart getting into +them, for the ruts were too deep to let the wheels out; but it jolted +so dreadfully from side to side, as it crawled along, that Annie was +afraid every other moment of being tilted into one of the frightful +pools. Across the waste floated now and then the cry of a bird, but +other sound there was none in this land of drearihead. Next came some +scattered and ragged fields, the skirts of cultivation, which seemed to +draw closer and closer together, while the soil grew richer and more +hopeful, till, after two miles more, they entered the first straggling +precincts of the grey market-town. + +By this time the stars were shining clear in the cold, frosty sky, and +candles or train-oil lamps were burning in most of the houses; for all +these things took place long before gas had been heard of in those +quarters. A few faces were pressed close to the window-panes as the +cart passed; and some rather untidy women came to the house-doors to +look. And they spoke one to another words which, though inaudible +through the noise of the cart, were yet intelligible enough to Annie, +with her own forebodings to interpret the expression of their faces. + +"That'll be little Annie Anderson," they said. "She's gaein hame to +bide wi' her cousin, Robert Bruce, up i' the Wast Wynd. Puir wee +lassie!" + +For, on the way, Annie had been informed of her destination. + +But she was too miserable already, because of leaving her old home, to +care much to what new one she was going. Had it not been for the +absorption of this grief, she could not have been indifferent to the +prospect of going to live with her cousin, although her dislike to him +had never assumed a more active form than that of wishing to get away +from him, as often as he came near her. + +The cart stopped at Bruce's shop-door. It looked a heavy door, although +the upper half was of glass--in small panes. Dowie got down and went +into the shop; and before he returned Annie had time to make some +listless observations. The house was a low one, although of two +stories, built of grey stone, and thatched. The heavy door was between +two windows belonging to the shop, in each of which burned a single +tallow candle, revealing to the gaze of Annie, in all the enhancing +mystery of candlelight, what she could not but regard as a perfect mine +of treasures. For besides calico and sugar, and all the multifarious +stock in the combined trades of draper and grocer, Robert Bruce sold +penny toys, and halfpenny picture-books, and all kinds of confectionery +which had been as yet revealed to the belated generations of Glamerton. + +But she had not to contemplate these wonders long from the outside; for +Bruce came to the door, and, having greeted his cousin and helped her +down, turned to take Annie. Dowie had been before him, however, and now +held the pale child silent in his arms. He carried her into the shop, +and set her down on a sack that stood outside the counter, leaning +against it. He then went back to his horse's head. + +The sack made no bad seat, for it was half-full of turnip-seed; and +upon it Annie sat, and drearily surveyed the circumstances. + +Auntie was standing in the middle of the shop. Bruce was holding the +counter open, and inviting her to enter. + +"Ye'll come in and tak a cup o' tay, efter yer journey, Marget?" said +he. + +"Na, I thank ye, Robert Bruce. Jeames and I maun jist turn and gae hame +again. There's a hantle to look efter yet, and we maunna neglec' oor +wark. The hoose-gear's a' to be roupit the morn." + +Then turning to Annie, she said: + +"Noo, Annie, lass, ye'll be a guid bairn, and do as ye're tell't. An' +min' and no pyke the things i' the chop." + +A smile of peculiar import glimmered over Bruce's face at the sound of +this injunction. Annie made no reply, but stared at Mr Bruce, and sat +staring. + +"Good-bye to ye, Annie!" said her aunt, and roused her a little from +her stupor. + +She then gave her a kiss--the first, as far as the child knew, that she +had ever given her--and went out. Bruce followed her out, and Dowie +came in. He took her up in his arms, and said: + +"Good-bye to ye, my bonnie bairn. Be a guid lass, and ye'll be ta'en +care o'. Dinna forget that. Min' and say yer prayers." + +Annie kissed him with all her heart, but could not reply. He set her +down again, and went out. She heard the harness rattle, and the cart go +off. She was left sitting on the sack. + +Presently Mr Bruce came in, and passing behind his counter, proceeded +to make an entry in a book. It could have been no order from poor, +homeless Margaret. It was, in fact, a memorandum of the day and the +hour when Annie was set down on that same sack--so methodical was he! +And yet it was some time before he seemed to awake to the remembrance +of the presence of the child. Looking up suddenly at the pale, weary +thing, as she sat with her legs hanging lifelessly down the side of the +sack, he said--pretending to have forgotten her-- + +"Ow, bairn, are ye there yet?" + +And going round to her, he set her on the floor, and leading her by the +hand through the mysterious gate of the counter, and through a door +behind it, called in a sharp decided tone: + +"Mother, ye're wanted!" + +Thereupon a tall, thin, anxious-looking woman appeared, wiping her +hands in her apron. + +"This is little Miss Anderson," said Bruce, "come to bide wi's. Gie her +a biscuit, and tak' her up the stair till her bed." + +As it was the first, so it was the last time he called her _Miss_ +Anderson, at least while she was one of his household.--Mrs Bruce took +Annie by the hand in silence, and led her up two narrow stairs, into a +small room with a skylight. There, by the shine of the far-off stars, +she undressed her. But she forgot the biscuit; and, for the first time +in her life, Annie went supperless to bed. + +She lay for a while trying to fancy herself in Brownie's stall among +the grass and clover, and so get rid of the vague fear she felt at +being in a strange place without light, for she found it unpleasant not +to know what was next her in the dark. But the fate of Brownie and of +everything she had loved came back upon her; and the sorrow drove away +the fear, and she cried till she could cry no longer, and then she +slept. It is by means of sorrow, sometimes, that He gives his beloved +sleep. + + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +She woke early, rose, and dressed herself. But there was no water for +her to wash with, and she crept down-stairs to look for help in this +her first need. Nobody, however, was awake. She looked long and +wistfully at the house-door, but seeing that she could not open it, she +went back to her room. If she had been at home, she would soon have had +a joyous good-morrow from the burst of fresh wind meeting her as she +lifted the ready latch, to seek the companionship of yet earlier risers +than herself; but now she was as lonely as if she had anticipated the +hour of the resurrection, and was the little only one up of the buried +millions. All that she had left of that home was her box, and she would +have betaken herself to a desolate brooding over its contents; but it +had not been brought up, and neither could she carry it up herself, nor +would she open it in the kitchen where it stood. So she sat down on the +side of her bed, and gazed round the room. It was a cheerless room. At +home she had had chequered curtains to her bed: here there were none of +any kind; and her eyes rested on nothing but bare rafters and boards. +And there were holes in the roof and round the floor, which she did not +like. They were not large, but they were dreadful. For they were black, +nor did she know where they might go to. And she grew very cold. + +At length she heard some noise in the house, and in her present mood +any human noise was a sound of deliverance. It grew; was presently +enriched by the admixture of baby-screams, and the sound of the +shop-shutters being taken down; and at last footsteps approached her +door. Mrs Bruce entered, and finding her sitting dressed on her bed, +exclaimed: + +"Ow! ye call dress yersel! can ye?" + +"Ay, weel that," answered Annie, as cheerily as she could. "But," she +added, "I want some water to wash mysel' wi'." + +"Come doon to the pump, than," said Mrs Bruce. + +Annie followed her to the pump, where she washed in a tub. She then ran +dripping into the house for a towel, and was dried by the hands of Mrs +Bruce in her dirty apron.--This mode of washing lasted till the first +hoar-frost, after which there was a basin to be had in the kitchen, +with plenty of water and not much soap. + +By this time breakfast was nearly ready, and in a few minutes more, Mrs +Bruce called Mr Bruce from the shop, and the children from the yard, +and they all sat round the table in the kitchen--Mr Bruce to his tea +and oat-cake and butter--Mrs Bruce and the children to badly-made +oatmeal porridge and sky-blue milk. This quality of the milk was +remarkable, seeing they had cows of their own. But then they sold milk. +And if any customer had accused her of watering it, Mrs Bruce's best +answer would have been to show how much better what she sold was than +what she retained; for she put twice as much water in what she used for +her own family--with the exception of the portion destined for her +husband's tea, whose two graces were long and strong enough for a +better breakfast. But then his own was good enough. + +There were three children, two boys with great jaws--the elder rather +older than Annie--and a very little baby. After Mr Bruce had prayed for +the blessing of the Holy Spirit upon their food, they gobbled down +their breakfasts with all noises except articulate ones. When they had +finished--that is, eaten everything up--the Bible was brought; a psalm +was sung, after a fashion not very extraordinary to the ears of Annie, +or, indeed, of any one brought up in Scotland; a chapter was read--it +happened to tell the story of Jacob's speculations in the money-market +of his day and generation; and the _exercise_ concluded with a prayer +of a quarter of an hour, in which the God of Jacob especially was +invoked to bless the Bruces, His servants, in their basket and in their +store, and to prosper the labours of that day in particular. The prayer +would have been longer, but for the click of the latch of the +shop-door, which brought it to a speedier close than one might have +supposed even Mr Bruce's notions of decency would have permitted. And +almost before the _Amen_ was out of his month, he was out of the +kitchen. + +When he had served the early customer, he returned, and sitting down, +drew Annie towards him--between his knees, in fact, and addressed her +with great solemnity. + +"Noo, Annie," said he, "ye s' get the day to play yersel'; but ye maun +gang to the school the morn. We can hae no idle fowk i' this hoose, sae +we maun hae nae words aboot it." + +Annie was not one to make words about that or anything. She was only +too glad to get away from him. Indeed the prospect of school, after +what she had seen of the economy of her home, was rather enticing. So +she only answered, + +"Verra weel, sir. Will I gang the day?" + +Whereupon, finding her so tractable, Mr Bruce added, in the tone of one +conferring a great favour, and knowing that he did so, + +"Ye can come into the shop for the day, and see what's gaein on. Whan +ye're a muckle woman, ye may be fit to stan' ahin' the coonter some day +yersel'--wha kens?" + +Robert Bruce regarded the shop as his Bannockburn, where all his +enemies, namely customers, were to be defeated, that he might be +enriched with their spoils. It was, therefore, a place of so great +interest in his eyes, that he thought it must be interesting to +everybody else. And, indeed, the permission did awake some ill-grounded +expectations in the mind of Annie. + +She followed him into the shop, and saw quite a fabulous wealth of good +things around her; of which, however, lest she should put forth her +hand and take, the militant eyes of Robert Bruce never ceased watching +her, with quick-recurring glances, even while he was cajoling some +customer into a doubtful purchase. + +Long before dinner-time arrived, she was heartily sick of the monotony +of buying and selling in which she had no share. Not even a +picture-book was taken down from the window for her to look at; so that +she soon ceased to admire even the picture-books--a natural result of +the conviction that they belonged to a sphere above her reach. Mr +Bruce, on the other hand, looked upon them as far below the notice of +his children, although he derived a keen enjoyment from the +transference, by their allurements, of the half-pence of other children +from their pockets into his till. + +"Naisty trash o' lees," he remarked, apparently for Annie's behoof, as +he hung the fresh bait up in his window, after two little urchins, with +_bawbees_ to spend, had bought a couple of the radiant results of +literature and art combined. "Naisty trash o' lees--only fit for dirrty +laddies and lassies." + +He stood on the watch in his shop like a great spider that ate +children; and his windows were his web. + +They dined off salt herrings and potatoes--much better fare than bad +porridge and watered milk. Robert Bruce the younger, who inherited his +father's name and disposition, made faces at Annie across the table as +often as he judged it prudent to run the risk of discovery; but Annie +was too stupefied with the awful change to mind it much, and indeed +required all the attention she had at command, for the arrest of +herring bones on their way to her throat. + +After dinner, business was resumed in the shop, with at least the +resemblance of an increase of vigour, for Mrs Bruce went behind the +counter, and gave her husband time to sit down at the desk to write +letters and make out bills. Not that there was much of either sort of +clerkship necessary; but Bruce, like Chaucer's Man of Law, was so fond +of business, that he liked to seem busier than he was. As it happened +to be a half-holiday, Annie was sent with the rest of the children into +the garden to play up and down the walks. + +"An' min'," said Bruce, "an' haud oot ower frae the dog." + +In the garden Annie soon found herself at the mercy of those who had +none. + +It is marvellous what an amount of latent torment there is in boys, +ready to come out the moment an object presents itself. It is not +exactly cruelty. The child that tears the fly to pieces does not +represent to himself the sufferings the insect undergoes; he merely +yields to an impulse to disintegrate. So children, even ordinarily good +children, are ready to tease any child who simply looks teasable, and +so provokes the act. Now the Bruces were not good children, as was +natural; and they despised Annie because she was a girl, and because +she had no self-assertion. If she had shown herself aggressively +disagreeable, they would have made some attempt to conciliate her; but +as it was, she became at once the object of a succession of spiteful +annoyances, varying in intensity with the fluctuating invention of the +two boys. At one time they satisfied themselves with making grimaces of +as insulting a character as they could produce; at another they rose to +the rubbing of her face with dirt, or the tripping up of her heels. +Their persecution bewildered her, and the resulting stupefaction was a +kind of support to her for a time; but at last she could endure it no +longer, being really hurt by a fall, and ran crying into the shop, +where she sobbed out, + +"Please, sir, they winna lat me be." + +"Dinna come into the chop wi' yer stories. Mak' it up amo' yersels." + +"But they winna mak' it up." + +Robert Bruce rose indignant at such an interruption of his high +calling, and went out with the assumption of much parental grandeur. He +was instantly greeted with a torrent of assurances that Annie had +fallen, and then laid the blame upon them; whereupon he turned sternly +to her, and said-- + +"Annie, gin ye tell lees, ye'll go to hell." + +But paternal partiality did not prevent him from reading them also a +lesson, though of a quite different tone. + +"Mind, boys," he said, in a condescending whine, "that poor Annie has +neither father nor mither; an' ye maun be kind till her." + +He then turned and left them for the more important concerns +within-doors; and the persecution recommenced, though in a somewhat +mitigated form. The little wretches were perfectly unable to abstain +from indulging in a pleasure of such intensity. Annie had indeed fallen +upon evil days. + +I am thus minute in my description of her first day, that my reader, +understanding something similar of many following days, may be able to +give due weight to the influence of other events, when, in due time, +they come to be recorded. But I must not conclude the account without +mentioning something which befell her at the close of the same day, and +threatened to be productive of yet more suffering. + +After _worship_, the boys crawled away to bed, half-asleep already; or, +I should rather say, only half-awake from their prayers. Annie +lingered. + +"Can ye no tak' aff yer ain claes, as weel as pit them on, Annie?" +asked Mrs Bruce. + +"Ay, weel eneuch. Only I wad sair like a bittie o' can'le," was Annie's +trembling reply, for she had a sad foreboding instinct now. + +"Can'le! Na, na, bairn," answered Mrs Bruce. "Ye s' get no can'le here. +Ye wad hae the hoose in a low (flame) aboot oor lugs (ears). I canna +affoord can'les. Ye can jist mak' a can'le o' yer han's, and fin (feel) +yer gait up the twa stairs. There's thirteen steps to the firs, and +twal to the neist." + +With choking heart, but without reply, Annie went. + +Groping her way up the steep ascent, she found her room without any +difficulty. As it was again a clear, starlit night, there was light +enough for her to find everything she wanted; and the trouble at her +heart kept her imagination from being as active as it would otherwise +have been, in recalling the terrible stories of ghosts and dead people +with which she was far too familiar. She soon got into bed, and, as a +precautionary measure, buried her head under the clothes before she +began to say her prayers, which, under the circumstances, she had +thought she might be excused for leaving till she had lain down. But +her prayers were suddenly interrupted by a terrible noise of scrambling +and scratching and scampering in the very room beside her. + +"I tried to cry oot," she said afterwards, "for I kent 'at it was +rottans; but my tongue booed i' my mou' for fear, and I cudna speak ae +word." + +The child's fear of rats amounted to a frenzied horror. She dared not +move a finger. To get out of bed with those creatures running about the +room was as impossible as it was to cry out. But her heart did what her +tongue could not do--cried out with a great and bitter cry to one who +was more ready to hear than Robert and Nancy Bruce. And what her heart +cried was this: + +"O God, tak care o' me frae the rottans." + +There was no need to send an angel from heaven in answer to this little +one's prayer: the cat would do. Annie heard a scratch and a mew at the +door. The rats made one frantic scramble and were still. + +"It's pussy!" she cried, recovering the voice for joy that had failed +her for fear. + +Fortified by her arrival, and still more by the feeling that she was a +divine messenger sent to succour her because she had prayed, she sprang +out of bed, darted across the room, and opened the door to let her in. +A few moments and she was fast asleep, guarded by God's angel, the cat, +for whose entrance she took good care ever after to leave the door +ajar. + +There are ways of keeping the door of the mind also, ready as it is to +fall to, ajar for the cat. + + + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +"Noo, Annie, pit on yer bonnet, an' gang to the schuil wi' the lave +(rest); an' be a good girrl." + +This was the Bruce's parting address to Annie, before he left the +kitchen for the shop, after breakfast and worship had been duly +observed; and having just risen from his knees, his voice, as he +stooped over the child, retained all the sanctity of its last +occupation. It was a quarter to ten o'clock, and the school was some +five minutes distant. + +With a flutter of fearful hope, Annie obeyed. She ran upstairs, made +herself as tidy, as she could, smoothed her hair, put on her bonnet, +and had been waiting a long time at the door when her companions joined +her. It was very exciting to look forward to something that might not +be disagreeable. + +As they went, the boys got one on each side of her in a rather sociable +manner. But they had gone half the distance and not a word had been +spoken, when Robert Bruce, junior, opened the conversation abruptly. + +"Ye'll get it!" he said, as if he had been brooding upon the fact for +some time, and now it had broken out. + +"What'll I get?" asked Annie timidly, for his tone had already filled +her with apprehension. + +"Sic lickins," answered the little wretch, drawing back his lips till +his canine teeth were fully disclosed, as if he gloated in a +carnivorous sort of way over the prospect. "Wonna she, Johnnie?" + +"Ay wull she," answered Johnnie, following his leader with confidence. + +Annie's heart sank within her. The poor little heart was used to +sinking now. But she said nothing, resolved, if possible, to avoid all +occasion for "getting it." + +Not another word was spoken before they reached the school, the door of +which was not yet open. A good many boys and a few girls were +assembled, waiting for the master, and filling the lane, at the end of +which the school stood, with the sound of voices fluctuating through a +very comprehensive scale. In general the school-door was opened a few +minutes before the master's arrival, but on this occasion no one +happened to have gone to his house to fetch the key, and the scholars +had therefore to wait in the street. None of them took any notice of +Annie; so she was left to study the outside of the school. It was a +long, low, thatched building, of one story and a garret, with five +windows to the lane, and some behind, for she could see light through. +It had been a weaving-shop originally, full of hand-looms, when the +trade in linen was more prosperous than it was now. From the thatch +some of the night's frost was already dripping in slow clear drops. +Past the door, which was in a line with the windows, went a gutter, the +waters of which sank through a small grating a few steps further on. +But there was no water running in it now. + +Suddenly a boy cried out: "The maister's comin'!" and instantly the +noise sunk to a low murmur. Looking up the lane, which rose +considerably towards the other end, Annie saw the figure of the +descending dominie. He was dressed in what seemed to be black, but was +in reality gray, almost as good as black, and much more thrifty. He +came down the hill swinging his arms, like opposing pendulums, in a +manner that made the rapid pace at which he approached like a long slow +trot. With the door-key in his hand, already pointed towards the +key-hole, he went right through the little crowd, which cleared a wide +path for him, without word or gesture of greeting on either side. I +might almost say he swooped upon the door, for with one hand on the +key, and the other on the latch, he seemed to wrench it open the moment +he touched it. In he strode, followed at the heels by the troop of +boys, big and little, and lastly by the girls--last of all, at a short +distance, by Annie, like a motherless lamb that followed the flock, +because she did not know what else to do. She found she had to go down +a step into a sunk passage or lobby, and then up another step, through +a door on the left, into the school. There she saw a double row of +desks, with a clear space down the middle between the rows. Each +scholar was hurrying to his place at one of the desks, where, as he +arrived, he stood. The master already stood in solemn posture at the +nearer end of the room on a platform behind his desk, prepared to +commence the extempore prayer, which was printed in a kind of blotted +stereotype upon every one of their brains. Annie had hardly succeeded +in reaching a vacant place among the girls when he began. The boys were +as still as death while the master prayed; but a spectator might easily +have discovered that the chief good some of them got from the ceremony +was a perfect command of the organs of sound; for the restraint was +limited to those organs; and projected tongues, deprived of their +natural exercise, turned themselves, along with winking eyes, contorted +features, and a wild use of hands and arms, into the means of +telegraphic despatches to all parts of the room, throughout the +ceremony. The master, afraid of being himself detected in the attempt +to combine prayer and vision, kept his "eyelids screwed together +tight," and played the spy with his ears alone. The boys and girls, +understanding the source of their security perfectly, believed that the +eyelids of the master would keep faith with them, and so disported +themselves without fear in the delights of dumb show. + +As soon as the prayer was over they dropped, with no little noise and +bustle, into their seats. But presently Annie was rudely pushed out of +her seat by a hoydenish girl, who, arriving late, had stood outside the +door till the prayer was over, and then entered unperceived during the +subsequent confusion. Some little ones on the opposite form, however, +liking the look of her, and so wishing to have her for a companion, +made room for her beside them. The desks were double, so that the two +rows at each desk faced each other. + +"Bible-class come up," were the first words of the master, ringing +through the room, and resounding awfully in Annie's ears. + +A moment of chaos followed, during which all the boys and girls, +considered capable of reading the Bible, were arranging themselves in +one great crescent across the room in front of the master's desk. Each +read a verse--neither more nor less--often leaving the half of a +sentence to be taken up as a new subject in a new key; thus perverting +what was intended as an assistance to find the truth into a means of +hiding it--a process constantly repeated, and with far more serious +results, when the words of truth fall, not into the hands of the +incapable, but under the protection of the ambitious. + +The chapter that came in its turn was one to be pondered over by the +earnest student of human nature, not one to be blundered over by boys +who had still less reverence for humanity than they had for Scripture. +It was a good thing that they were not the sacred fountains of the New +Testament that were thus dabbled in--not, however, that the latter were +considered at all more precious or worthy; as Saturday and the Shorter +Catechism would show. + +Not knowing the will of the master, Annie had not dared to stand up +with the class, although she could read very fairly. A few moments +after it was dismissed she felt herself overshadowed by an awful +presence, and, looking up, saw, as she had expected, the face of the +master bending down over her. He proceeded to question her, but for +some time she was too frightened to give a rational account of her +acquirements, the best of which were certainly not of a kind to be +appreciated by the master, even if she had understood them herself +sufficiently to set them out before him. For, besides her aunt, who had +taught her to read, and nothing more, her only instructors had been +Nature, with her whole staff, including the sun, moon, and wind; the +grass, the corn, Brownie the cow, and her own faithful subject, Dowie. +Still, it was a great mortification to her to be put into the +spelling-book, which excluded her from the Bible-class. She was also +condemned to follow with an uncut quill, over and over again, a single +straight stroke, set her by the master. Dreadfully dreary she found it, +and over it she fell fast asleep. Her head dropped on her outstretched +arm, and the quill dropped from her sleeping fingers--for when Annie +slept she all slept. But she was soon roused by the voice of the +master. "Ann Anderson!" it called in a burst of thunder to her ear; and +she awoke to shame and confusion, amidst the titters of those around +her. + +Before the morning was over she was called up, along with some children +considerably younger than herself, to read and spell. The master stood +before them, armed with a long, thick strap of horse-hide, prepared by +steeping in brine, black and supple with constant use, and cut into +fingers at one end, which had been hardened in the fire. + +Now there was a little pale-faced, delicate-looking boy in the class, +who blundered a good deal. Every time he did so the cruel serpent of +leather went at him, coiling round his legs with a sudden, hissing +swash. This made him cry, and his tears blinded him so that he could +not even see the words which he had been unable to read before. But he +still attempted to go on, and still the instrument of torture went +swish-swash round his little thin legs, raising upon them, no doubt, +plentiful blue wales, to be revealed, when he was undressed for the +night, to the indignant eyes of pitying mother or aunt, who would yet +send him back to the school the next morning without fail. + +At length either the heart of the master was touched by the sight of +his sufferings and repressed weeping, or he saw that he was compelling +the impossible; for he stayed execution, and passed on to the next, who +was Annie. + +It was no wonder that the trembling child, who could read very fairly, +should yet, after such an introduction to the ways of school, fail +utterly in making anything like coherence of the sentence before her. +What she would have done, had she been left to herself, would have been +to take the little boy in her arms and cry too. As it was, she +struggled mightily with her tears, and yet she did not read to much +better purpose than the poor boy, who was still busy wiping his eyes +with his sleeves, alternately, for he never had had a handkerchief. But +being a new-comer, and a girl to boot, and her long frock affording no +facilities for this kind of incentive to learning, she escaped for the +time. + +It was a dreadful experience of life, though, that first day at school. +Well might the children have prayed with David--"Let us fall now into +the hand of the Lord, for his mercies are great; and let us not fall +into the hand of man." And well might the children at many another +school respond with a loud _Amen_! + +At one o'clock they were dismissed, and went home to dinner, to return +at three. + +In the afternoon she was set to make figures on a slate. She made +figures till her back ached. The monotony of this occupation was +relieved only by the sight of the execution of criminal law upon +various offending boys; for, as must be already partially evident, the +master was a hard man, with a severe, if not an altogether cruel +temper, and a quite savage sense of duty. The punishment was mostly in +the form of _pandies_,--blows delivered with varying force, but +generally with the full swing of the _tag_, as it was commonly called, +thrown over the master's shoulder, and brought down with the whole +strength of his powerful right arm upon the outstretched hand of the +culprit. But there were other modes of punishment, of which the +restraints of art would forbid the description, even if it were +possible for any writer to conquer his disgust so far as to attempt it. + +Annie shivered and quaked. Once she burst out crying, but managed to +choke her sobs, if she could not hide her tears. + +A fine-looking boy, three or four years older than herself, whose open +countenance was set off by masses of dark brown hair, was called up to +receive chastisement, merited or unmerited as the case might be; for +such a disposition as that of Murdoch Malison must have been more than +ordinarily liable to mistake. Justice, according to his idea, consisted +in vengeance. And he was fond of justice. He did not want to punish the +innocent, it is true; but I doubt whether the discovery of a boy's +innocence was not a disappointment to him. Without a word of +expostulation or defence, the boy held out his hand, with his arm at +full length, received four stinging blows upon it, grew very red in the +face, gave a kind of grotesque smile, and returned to his seat with the +suffering hand sent into retirement in his trowsers-pocket. Annie's +admiration of his courage as well as of his looks, though perhaps +unrecognizable as such by herself, may have had its share with her pity +in the tears that followed. Somehow or other, at all events, she made +up her mind to bear more patiently the persecutions of the little +Bruces, and, if ever her turn should come to be punished, as no doubt +it would, whether she deserved it or not, to try to take the whipping +as she had seen Alec Forbes take it. Poor Annie! If it should come to +that--nervous organizations are so different! + +At five, the school was dismissed for the day, not without another +extempore prayer. A succession of jubilant shouts arose as the boys +rushed out into the lane. Every day to them was a cycle of strife, +suffering, and deliverance. Birth and death, with the life-struggle +between, were shadowed out in it--with this difference, that the God of +a corrupt Calvinism, in the person of Murdoch Malison, ruled that +world, and not the God revealed in the man Christ Jesus. And most of +them having felt the day more or less a burden, were now going home to +heaven for the night. + +Annie, having no home, was amongst the few exceptions. Dispirited and +hopeless--a terrible condition for a child--she wondered how Alec +Forbes could be so merry. But he had had his evil things, and they were +over; while hers were all about her still. She had but one comfort +left--that no one would prevent her from creeping up to her own +desolate garret, which was now the dreary substitute for Brownie's +stall. Thither the persecuting boys were not likely to follow her. And +if the rats were in that garret, so was the cat; or at least the cat +knew the way to it. There she might think in peace about some things +about which she had never before seemed to have occasion to think. + + + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +Thus at home, if home it could be called, and at school, Annie's days +passed--as most days pass--with family resemblance and individual +difference wondrously mingled. She became interested in what she had to +learn, if not from the manner in which it was presented to her +comprehension, yet from the fact that she had to learn it. Happily or +unhappily, too, she began to get used to the sight of the penal +suffering of her schoolfellows. Nor had anything of the kind as yet +visited her; for it would have been hard for even a more savage master +than Mr Malison to find occasion, now that the first disabling +influences had passed away, to punish the nervous, delicate, anxious +little orphan, who was so diligent, and as quiet as a mouse that fears +to awake a sleeping cat. She had a scared look too, that might have +moved the heart of Malison even, if he had ever paid the least +attention to the looks of children. For the absence of human +companionship in bestial forms; the loss of green fields, free to her +as to the winds of heaven, and of country sounds and odours; and an +almost constant sense of oppression from the propinquity of one or +another whom she had cause to fear, were speedily working sad effects +upon her. The little colour she had died out of her cheek. Her face +grew thin, and her blue eyes looked wistful and large out of their +sulken cells. Not often were tears to be seen in them now, and yet they +looked well acquainted with tears--like fountains that had been full +yesterday. She never smiled, for there was nothing to make her smile. + +But she gained one thing by this desolation: the thought of her dead +father came to her, as it had never come before; and she began to love +him with an intensity she had known nothing of till now. Her mother had +died at her birth, and she had been her father's treasure; but in the +last period of his illness she had seen less of him, and the blank left +by his death had, therefore, come upon her gradually. Before she knew +what it was, she had begun to forget. In the minds of children the +grass grows very quickly over their buried dead. But now she learned +what death meant, or rather what love had been; not, however, as an +added grief: it comforted her to remember how her father had loved her; +and she said her prayers the oftener, because they seemed to go +somewhere near the place where her father was. She did not think of her +father being where God was, but of God being where her father was. + +The winter was drawing nearer too, and the days were now short and +cold. A watery time began, and for many days together the rain kept +falling without intermission. I almost think Annie would have died, but +for her dead father to think about. On one of those rainy days, +however, she began to find that it is in the nature of good things to +come in odd ways. It had rained the whole day, not tamely and +drizzingly, but in real earnest, dancing and rebounding from the pools, +and raising a mist by the very "crash of water-drops." Now and then the +school became silent, just to listen to the wide noise made by the busy +cataract of the heavens, each drop a messenger of good, a sweet +returning of earth's aspirations, in the form of Heaven's _Amen_! But +the boys thought only of the fun of dabbling in the torrents as they +went home; or the delights of net-fishing in the swollen and muddy +rivers, when the fish no longer see their way, but go wandering about +in perplexity, just as we human mortals do in a thick fog, whether of +the atmosphere or of circumstance. + +The afternoon was waning. It was nearly time to go; and still the rain +was pouring and plashing around. In the gathering gloom there had been +more than the usual amount of wandering from one part of the school to +another, and the elder Bruce had stolen to a form occupied by some +little boys, next to the one on which Annie sat with her back towards +them. If it was not the real object of his expedition, at least he took +the opportunity to give Annie a spiteful dig with his elbow; which, +operating even more powerfully than he had intended, forced from her an +involuntary cry. Now the master indulged in an occasional refinement of +the executive, which consisted in this: he threw the _tawse_ at the +offender, not so much for the sake of hurting--although that, being a +not infrequent result, may be supposed to have had a share in the +intention--as of humiliating; for the culprit had to bear the +instrument of torture back to the hands of the executioner. He threw +the tawse at Annie, half, let us suppose, in thoughtless cruelty, half +in evil jest. It struck her rather sharply, before she had recovered +breath after the blow Bruce had given her. Ready to faint with pain and +terror, she rose, pale as death, and staggered up to the master, +carrying the tawse with something of the same horror she would have +felt had it been a snake. With a grim smile, he sent her back to her +seat. The moment she reached it her self-control gave way, and she +burst into despairing, though silent tears. The desk was still shaking +with her sobs, and some of the girls were still laughing at her grief, +when a new occurrence attracted their attention. Through the noise of +the falling rain a still louder rushing of water was heard, and the +ears and eyes of all sought the source of the sound. Even Annie turned +her wet cheeks and overflowing eyes languidly towards the door. Mr +Malison went and opened it. A flood of brown water was pouring into the +sunk passage already described. The grating by which the rain-torrent +that flowed past the door should have escaped, had got choked, the +stream had been dammed back, and in a few moments more the room itself +would be flooded. Perceiving this, the master hastily dismissed his +pupils. + +There could be no better fun for most of the boys and some of the +girls, than to wade through the dirty water. Many of the boys dashed +through it at once, shoes and all; but some of the boys, and almost all +the girls, took off their shoes and stockings. When Annie got a peep of +the water, writhing and tumbling in the passage, it looked so ugly, +that she shrunk from fording it, especially if she must go in with her +bare feet. She could not tell what might be sweeping about in that +filthy whirlpool. She was still looking at it as it kept rising, in +pale perplexity and dismay, with the forgotten tears still creeping +down her checks, when she was caught up from behind by a boy, who, with +his shoes and stockings in one hand, now seated her on the other arm. +She peeped timidly round to see who it was, and the brave brown eyes of +Alec Forbes met hers, lighted by a kind, pitying smile. In that smile +the cloudy sky of the universe gently opened, and the face of God +looked out upon Annie. It gave her, for the moment, all that she had +been dying for want of for many weeks--weeks long as years. She could +not help it--she threw her arms round Alec Forbes's neck, laid her wet +cheek against his, and sobbed as if her heart would break. She did not +care for the Bruces, or the rats, or even the schoolmaster now. Alec +clasped her tighter, and vowed in his heart that if ever that brute +Malison lifted the tag to her, he would fly at his throat. He would +have carried her all the way home, for she was no great weight; but as +soon as they were out of the house Annie begged him to set her down so +earnestly, that he at once complied, and, bidding her good night, ran +home barefoot through the flooded roads. + +The Bruces had gone on with the two umbrellas, one of which, more to +her discomfort than protection, Annie had shared in coming to the +school; so that she was very wet before she got home. But no notice was +taken of the condition she was in; the consequence of which was a +severe cold and cough, which however, were not regarded as any +obstacles to her going to school the next day. + +That night she lay awake for a long time, and when at last she fell +asleep, she dreamed that she took Alec Forbes home to see her +father--out the street and the long road; over the black moor, and +through the fields; in at the door of the house, and up the stair to +her father's room, where he lay in bed. And she told him how kind Alec +had been to her, and how happy she was going to be now. And her father +put his hand out of the bed, and laid it on Alec's head, and said: +"Thank ye, Alec for being kind to my poor Annie." And then she cried, +and woke crying--strange tears out of dreamland, half of delicious +sorrow and half of trembling joy. + +With what altered feelings she seated herself after the prayer, next +day, and glanced round the room to catch a glimpse of her new friend! +There he was, radiant as usual. He took no notice of her, and she had +not expected that he would. But it was not long before he found out, +now that he was interested in her, that her cousins were by no means +friendly to her; for their seats were not far from the girl's quarter, +and they took every sheltered opportunity of giving her a pinch or a +shove, or of making vile grimaces at her. + +In the afternoon, while she was busy over an addition sum which was +more than usually obstinate, Robert came stealthily behind her, and, +licking his hand, watched his opportunity, and rubbed the sum from her +slate. The same moment he received a box on the ear, that no doubt +filled his head with more noises than that of the impact. He yelled +with rage and pain, and, catching sight of the administrator of justice +as he was returning to his seat, bawled out in a tone of fierce +complaint: "Sanny Forbes!" + +"Alexander Forbes! come up," responded the voice of the master. Forbes +not being a first-rate scholar, was not a favourite with him, for Mr +Malison had no sense for what was fine in character or disposition. Had +the name been that of one of his better Latin scholars, the cry of +Bruce would most likely have passed unheeded. + +"Hold up your hand," he said, without requesting or waiting for an +explanation. + +Alec obeyed. Annie gave a smothered shriek, and, tumbling from her +seat, rushed up to the master. When she found herself face to face with +the tyrant, however, not one word could she speak. She opened her +mouth, but throat and tongue refused their offices, and she stood +gasping. The master stared, his arm arrested in act to strike, and his +face turned over his left shoulder, with all the blackness of his anger +at Forbes lowering upon Annie. He stood thus for one awful moment, then +motioning her aside with a sweep of his head, brought down the tawse +upon the hand which Alec had continued to hold outstretched, with the +vehemence of accumulated wrath. Annie gave a choking cry, and Alec, so +violent was the pain, involuntarily withdrew his hand. But instantly, +ashamed of his weakness, he presented it again, and received the +remainder of his punishment without flinching. The master then turned +to Annie; and finding her still speechless, gave her a push that nearly +threw her on her face, and said, + +"Go to your seat, Ann Anderson. The next time you do that I will punish +you severely." + +Annie sat down, and neither sobbed nor cried. But it was days before +she recovered from the shock. Once, long after, when she was reading +about the smothering of the princes in the Tower, the whole of the +physical sensations of those terrible moments returned upon her, and +she sprang from her seat in a choking agony. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +For some time neither of the Bruces ventured even to make a wry face at +her in school; but their behaviour to her at home was only so much the +worse. + +Two days after the events recorded, as Annie was leaving the kitchen, +after worship, to go up to bed, Mr Bruce called her. + +"Annie Anderson," he said, "I want to speak to ye." + +Annie turned, trembling. + +"I see ye ken what it's aboot," he went on, staring her full in the +pale face, which grew paler as he stared. "Ye canna luik me i' the +face. Whaur's the candy-sugar an' the prunes? I ken weel eneuch whaur +they are, and sae do ye." + +"I ken naething aboot them," answered Annie, with a sudden revival of +energy. + +"Dinna lee, Annie. It's ill eneuch to steal, without leein'." + +"I'm no leein'," answered she, bursting into tears of indignation. "Wha +said 'at I took them?" + +"That's naething to the pint. Ye wadna greit that gait gin ye war +innocent. I never missed onything afore. And ye ken weel eneuch there's +an ee that sees a' thing, and ye canna hide frae hit." + +Bruce could hardly have intended that it was by inspiration from on +high that he had discovered the thief of his sweets. But he thought it +better to avoid mentioning that the informer was his own son Johnnie. +Johnnie, on his part, had thought it better not to mention that he had +been incited to the act by his brother Robert. And Robert had thought +it better not to mention that he did so partly to shield himself, and +partly out of revenge for the box on the ear which Alec Forbes had +given him. The information had been yielded to the inquisition of the +parent, who said with truth that he had never missed anything before; +although I suspect that a course of petty and cautious pilfering had at +length passed the narrow bounds within which it could be concealed from +the lynx eyes inherited from the kingly general. Possibly a bilious +attack, which confined the elder boy to the house for two or three +days, may have had something to do with the theft; but if Bruce had any +suspicions of the sort, he never gave utterance to them. + +"I dinna want to hide frae 't," cried Annie. "Guid kens," she went on +in desperation, "that I wadna touch a grain o' saut wantin' leave." + +"It's a pity, Annie, that some fowk dinna get their ain share o' Mr +Malison's tards." (_Tards_ was considered a more dignified word than +_tag_.) "I dinna like to lick ye mysel', 'cause ye're ither fowk's +bairn; but I can hardly haud my han's aff o' ye." + +It must not be supposed from this speech that Robert Bruce ever +ventured to lay his hands on his own children. He was too much afraid +of their mother, who, perfectly submissive and sympathetic in ordinary, +would have flown into the rage of a hen with chickens if even her own +husband had dared to chastise one of _her_ children. The shop might be +more Robert's than hers, but the children were more hers than Robert's. + +Overcome with shame and righteous anger, Annie burst out in the midst +of fresh tears: + +"I wish Auntie, wad come an tak me awa'! It's an ill hoose to be in." + +These words had a visible effect upon Bruce. He expected a visit from +Marget Anderson within a day or two; and he did not know what the +effect of the representations of Annie might be. The use of her money +had not been secured to him for any lengthened period--Dowie, anxious +to take all precautions for his little mistress, having consulted a +friendly lawyer on the subject, lest she should be left defenceless in +the hands of a man of whose moral qualities Dowie had no exalted +opinion. The sale having turned out better than had been expected, the +sum committed to Bruce was two hundred pounds, to lose which now would +be hardly less than ruin. He thought it better, therefore, not doubting +Annie to be the guilty person, to count the few lumps of sugar he might +lose, as an additional trifle of interest, and not quarrel with his +creditor for extorting it. So with the weak cunning of his kind, he +went to the shop, and bringing back a bit of sugar-candy, about the +size of a pigeon's egg, said to the still weeping child: + +"Dinna greit, Annie. I canna bide to see ye greitin'. Gin ye want a +bittie o' sugar ony time, jist tell me, an' dinna gang helpin' +yoursel'. That's a'. Hae." + +He thrust the lump into Annie's hand; but she dropped it on the floor +with disgust, and rushed up-stairs to her bed as fast as the darkness +would let her: where, notwithstanding her indignation, she was soon +fast asleep. + +Bruce searched for the sugar-candy which she had rejected, until he +found it. He then restored it to the drawer whence he had taken +it--which he could find in the dark with perfect ease--resolving as he +did so, to be more careful in future of offending little Annie +Anderson. + +When the day arrived upon which he expected Marget's visit, that being +a Saturday, Bruce was on the watch the whole afternoon. From his +shop-door he could see all along the street, and a good way beyond it; +and being very quick-sighted, he recognized Marget at a great distance +by her shawl, as she sat in a slow-nearing cart. + +"Annie!" he called, opening the inner door, as he returned behind the +counter. + +Annie, who was up-stairs in her own room, immediately appeared. + +"Annie," he said, "rin oot at the back door, and through the yard, and +ower to Laurie Lumley's, and tell him to come ower to me direckly. +Dinna come back withoot him. There's a guid bairn!" + +He sent her upon this message, knowing well enough that the man had +gone into the country that day, and that there was no one at his house +who would be likely to know where he had gone. He hoped, therefore, +that she would go and look for him in the town, and so be absent during +her aunt's visit. + +"Weel, Marget," he said, with his customary greeting, in which the +foreign oil sought to overcome the home-bred vinegar, "hoo are ye the +day?" + +"Ow! nae that ill," answered Marget with a sigh. + +"And hoo's Mr and Mistress Peterson?" + +"Brawly. Hoo's Annie comin' on?" + +"Nae that ill. She's some royt (riotous) jist." + +He thought to please her by the remark, because she had been in the +habit of saying so herself. But distance had made Annie dearer; and her +aunt's nose took fire with indignation, as she replied: + +"The lassie's weel eneuch. _I_ saw naething o' the sort aboot her. Gin +ye canna guide her, that's _your_ wyte." + +Bruce was abashed, but not confounded. He was ready in a moment. + +"I never kent ony guid come o' bein' ower sair upo' bairns," said he. +"She's as easy guidit as a coo gaein' hame at nicht, only ye maun jist +lat her ken that ye're there, ye ken." + +"Ow! ay," said Marget, a little nonplussed in her turn. + +"Wad ye like to see her?" + +"What ither did I come for?" + +"Weel, I s' gang and luik for her." + +He went to the back door, and called aloud: "Annie, yer auntie's here +and wants to see ye." + +"She'll be here in a minute," he said to Marget, as he re-entered the +shop. + +After a little more desultory conversation, he pretended to be +surprised that she she did not make her appearance, and going once more +to the door, called her name several times. He then pretended to search +for her in the garden and all over the house, and returned with the +news that she was nowhere to be seen. + +"She's feared that ye're come to tak her wi' ye, and she's run awa oot +aboot some gait. I'll sen' the laddies to luik for her." + +"Na, na, never min'. Gin she disna want to see me, I'm sure I needna +want to see her. I'll awa doon the toon," said Margaret, her face +growing very red as she spoke. + +She bustled out of the shop, too angry with Annie to say farewell to +Bruce. She had not gone far, however, before Annie came running out of +a narrow close, almost into her aunt's arms. But there was no refuge +for her there. + +"Ye little limmer!" cried Margaret, seizing her by the shoulder, "what +gart ye rin awa'? I dinna want ye, ye brat!" + +"I didna rin awa', Auntie." + +"Robert Bruce cried on ye to come in, himsel'." + +"It wis himsel' that sent me to Laurie Lumley's to tell him to come +till him direckly." + +Margaret could not make "head or tail" of it. But as Annie had never +told her a lie, she could not doubt her. So taking time to think about +it, she gave her some rough advice and a smooth penny, and went away on +her errands. She was not long in coming to the conclusion that Bruce +wanted to sunder her and the child; and this offended her so much, that +she did not go near the shop for a long time. Thus Annie was forsaken, +and Bruce had what he wanted. + +He needed not have been so full of scheming, though. Annie never said a +word to her aunt about their treatment of her. It is one of the marvels +in the constitution of children, how much they will bear without +complaining. Parents and guardians have no right to suppose that all is +well in the nursery or school-room, merely from the fact that the +children do not complain. Servants and tutors may be cruel, and +children will be silent--partly, I presume, because they forget so +soon. + +But vengeance of a sort soon overtook Robert Bruce the younger; for the +evil spirit in him, derived from no such remote ancestor as the king, +would not allow him a long respite from evil-doing, even in school. He +knew Annie better than his father, that she was not likely to complain +of anything, and that the only danger lay in the chance of being +discovered in the deed. One day when the master had left the room to +confer with some visitor at the door, he spied Annie in the act of +tying her shoe. Perceiving, as he believed, at a glance, that Alec +Forbes was totally unobservant, he gave her an ignominious push from +behind, which threw her out on her face in the middle of the floor. But +Alec did catch sight of him in the very deed, was down upon him in a +moment, and, having already proved that a box on the ear was of no +lasting effect, gave him a downright good thrashing. He howled +vigorously, partly from pain, partly in the hope that the same +consequences as before would overtake Forbes; and therefore was still +howling when Mr Malison re-entered. + +"Robert Bruce, come up," bawled he, the moment he opened the door. + +And Robert Bruce went up, and notwithstanding his protestations, +received a second, and far more painful punishment from the master, +who, perhaps, had been put out of temper by his visitor. But there is +no good in speculating on that or any other possibility in the matter; +for, as far at least as the boys could see, the master had no fixed +principle as to the party on whom the punishment should fall. +Punishment, in his eyes, was perhaps enough in itself. If he was +capable of seeing that _punishment_, as he called it, falling on the +wrong person, was not _punishment_, but only _suffering_, certainly he +had not seen the value of the distinction. + +If Bruce howled before, he howled tenfold now, and went home howling. +Annie was sorry for him, and tried to say a word of comfort to him; but +he repelled her advances with hatred and blows. As soon as he reached +the shop he told his father that Forbes had beaten him without his +having even spoken to him, which was as correct as it was untrue, and +that the master had taken Forbes's part, and _licked_ him over again, +of which latter assertion there was proof enough on his person. Robert +the elder was instantly filled with smouldering wrath, and from that +moment hated Alec Forbes. For, like many others of low nature, he had +yet some animal affection for his children, combined with an endless +amount of partisanship on their behalf, which latter gave him a full +right to the national motto of Scotland. Indeed, for nothing in the +world but money, would he have sacrificed what seemed to him their +interests. + +A man must learn to love his children, not because they are his, but +because they are _children_, else his love will be scarcely a better +thing at last than the party-spirit of the faithful politician. I doubt +if it will prove even so good a thing. + +From this hatred to Alec Forbes came some small consequences at length. +But for the present it found no outlet save in sneers and prophetic +hints of an "ill hinner en'." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +In her inmost heart Annie dedicated herself to the service of Alec +Forbes. Nor was it long before she had an opportunity of helping him. + +One Saturday the master made his appearance in black instead of white +stockings, which was regarded by the scholars as a bad omen; and fully +were their prognostications justified, on this occasion, at least. The +joy of the half-holiday for Scotch boys and girls has a terrible weight +laid in the opposite scale--I mean the other half of the day. This +weight, which brings the day pretty much on a level with all other +days, consists in a free use of the Shorter Catechism. This, of course, +made them hate the Catechism, though I am not aware that that was of +any great consequence, or much to be regretted. For my part, I wish the +spiritual engineers who constructed it had, after laying the grandest +foundation-stone that truth could afford them, glorified God by going +no further. Certainly many a man would have enjoyed Him sooner, if it +had not been for their work. But, alas! the Catechism was not enough, +even of the kind. The tormentors of youth had gone further, and +provided what they called Scripture proofs of the various assertions of +the Catechism; a support of which it stood greatly in need. Alas! I +say, for the boys and girls who had to learn these proofs, called texts +of Scripture, but too frequently only morsels torn bleeding and +shapeless from "the lovely form of the Virgin Truth!" For these tasks, +combined with the pains and penalties which accompanied failure, taught +them to dislike the Bible as well as the Catechism, and that was a +matter of altogether different import. + +Every Saturday, then, Murdoch Malison's pupils had to learn so many +questions of the Shorter Catechism, with proofs from Scripture; and +whoever failed in this task was condemmed to imprisonment for the +remainder of the day, or, at least, till the task should be +accomplished. The imprisonment was sometimes commuted for +chastisement--or finished off with it, when it did not suit the +convenience of the master to enforce the full term of a school-day. +Upon certain Saturdays, moreover, one in each month, I think, a +repetition was required of all the questions and proofs that had been, +or ought to have been, learned since the last observance of the same +sort. + +Now the day in question was one of these of accumulated labour, and +Alec Forbes only succeeded in bringing proof of his inability for the +task, and was in consequence condemned "to be keepit in"--a trial hard +enough for one whose chief delights were the open air and the active +exertion of every bodily power. + +Annie caught sight of his mortified countenance, the expression of +which, though she had not heard his doom, so filled her with concern +and indignation, that--her eyes and thoughts fixed upon him, at the +other end of the class--she did not know when her turn came, but +allowed the master to stand before her in bootless expectation. He did +not interrupt her, but with a refinement of cruelty that ought to have +done him credit in his own eyes, waited till the universal silence had +at length aroused Annie to self-consciousness and a sense of +annihilating confusion. Then, with a smile on his thin lips, but a +lowering thunder-cloud on his brow, he repeated the question: + +"What doth every sin deserve?" + +Annie, bewildered, and burning with shame at finding herself the core +of the silence--feeling is if her poor little spirit stood there naked +to the scoffs and jeers around--could not recall a word of the answer +given in the Catechism. So, in her bewilderment, she fell back on her +common sense and experience, which, she ought to have known, had +nothing to do with the matter in hand. + +"What doth every sin deserve?" again repeated the tyrant. + +"A lickin'," whimpered Annie, and burst into tears. + +The master seemed much inclined to consider her condemned out of her +own mouth, and give her a whipping at once; for it argued more than +ignorance to answer _a whipping_, instead of _the wrath and curse of +God_, &c., &c., as plainly set down in the Scotch Targum. But +reflecting, perhaps, that she was a girl, and a little one, and that +although it would be more gratification to him to whip her, it might be +equal suffering to her to be _kept in_, he gave that side wave of his +head which sealed the culprit's doom, and Annie took her place among +the condemned, with a flutter of joy at her heart that Alec Forbes +would not be left without a servant to wait upon him. A few more boys +made up the unfortunate party, but they were all little ones, and so +there was no companion for Forbes, who evidently felt the added +degradation of being alone. The hour arrived; the school was dismissed; +the master strode out, locking the door behind him; and the defaulters +were left alone, to chew the bitter cud of ill-cooked Theology. + +For some time a dreary silence reigned. Alec sat with his elbows on his +desk, biting his nails, and gnawing his hands. Annie sat dividing her +silent attention between her book and Alec. The other boys were, or +seemed to be, busy with their catechisms, in the hope of getting out as +soon as the master returned. At length Alec took out his knife, and +began, for very vacancy, to whittle away at the desk before him. When +Annie saw that, she crept across to his form, and sat down on the end +of it. Alec looked up at her, smiled, and went on with his whittling. +Annie slid a little nearer to him, and asked him to hear her say her +catechism. He consented, and she repeated the lesson perfectly. + +"Now let me hear you, Alec," she said. + +"Na, thank ye, Annie. I canna say't. And I wonna say't for a' the +dominies in creation." + +"But he'll lick ye, Alec; an' I 'canna bide it," said Annie, the tears +beginning to fill her eyes. + +"Weel, I'll try--to please you, Annie," said Alec, seeing that the +little thing was in earnest. + +How her heart bounded with delight! That great boy, so strong and so +brave, trying to learn a lesson to please her! + +But it would not do. + +"I canna min' a word o' 't, Annie. I'm dreidfu' hungry, forbye. I was +in a hurry wi' my brakfast the day. Gin I had kent what was comin', I +wad hae laid in a better stock," he added, laughing rather drearily. + +As he spoke he looked up; and his eyes wandered from one window to +another for a few moments after he had ceased speaking. + +"Na; it's no use," he resumed at last. "I hae eaten ower muckle for +that, ony gait." + +Annie was as pitiful over Alec's hunger as any mother over her child's. +She felt it pure injustice that he should ever be hungry. But, unable +to devise any help, she could only say, + +"I dinna ken what ye mean, Alec." + +"Whan I was na bigger than you, Annie, I could win oot at a less hole +than that," answered he, and pointed to the open wooden pane in an +upper corner of one the windows; "but I hae eaten ower muckle sin +syne." + +And he laughed again; but it was again an unsuccessful laugh. + +Annie sprang to her feet. + +"Gin ye could win throu that hole ance, I can win throu't noo, Alec. +Jist haud me up a bit. Ye _can_ lift me, ye ken." + +And she looked up at him shyly and gratefully. + +"But what will ye do when ye _are_ oot, Annie?" + +"Rin hame, and fess a loaf wi' me direckly." + +"But Rob Bruce'll see yer heid atween yer feet afore he'll gie ye a +loaf, or a mou'fu' o' cakes either; an' it's ower far to rin to my +mither's. Murdoch wad be back lang or that." + +"Jist help me oot, an' lea' the lave to me," said Annie, confidently. +"Gin I dinna fess a loaf o' white breid, never lippen (trust) to me +again." + +The idea of the bread, always a rarity and consequent delicacy to +Scotch country boys, so early in the century as the date of my story, +was too much for Alec's imagination. He jumped up, and put his head out +of one of those open panes to reconnoitre. He saw a woman approaching +whom he knew. + +"I say, Lizzie," he called. + +The woman stopped. + +"What's yer wull, Maister Alec?" + +"Jist stan' there an' pu' this lassie oot. We're a' keepit in +thegither, and nearhan' hungert." + +"The Lord preserve 's! I'll gang for the key." + +"Na, na; _we_ wad hae to pay for that. Tak her oot--that's a' we want." + +"He's a coorse crayter--that maister o' yours. I wad gang to see him +hangt." + +"Bide a wee; that'll come in guid time," said Alec, +pseudo-prophetically. + +"Weel I s' hae a pu' at the legs o' him, to help him to jeedgement; for +he'll be the deith o' ane or twa o' ye afore lang." + +"Never min' Murder Malison. Will ye tak oot the bit lassie?" + +"Od will I! Whaur is she?" + +Alec jumped down and held her up to the open pane, not a foot square. +He told her to put her arms through first. Then between them they got +her head through, whereupon Lizzie caught hold of her--so low was the +school-room--and dragged her out, and set her on her feet. But alas, a +window was broken in the process! + +"Noo, Annie," cried Alec, "never min' the window. Rin." + +She was off like a live bullet. + +She scampered home prepared to encounter all dangers. The worst of them +all to her mind was the danger of not succeeding, and of so breaking +faith with Alec. She had sixpence of her own in coppers in her +box,--the only difficulty was to get into the house and out again +without being seen. By employing the utmost care and circumspection, +she got in by the back or house door unperceived, and so up to her +room. In a moment more the six pennies were in her hand, and she in the +street; for she did not use the same amount of precaution in getting +out again, not minding discovery so much now, if she could only have a +fair start. No one followed her, however. She bolted into a baker's +shop. + +"A saxpenny-loaf," she panted out. + +"Wha wants it?" asked the baker's wife. + +"There's the bawbees," answered Annie, laying them on the counter. + +The baker's wife gave her the loaf, with the biscuit which, from time +immemorial, had always graced a purchase to the amount of sixpence; and +Annie sped back to the school like a runaway horse to his stable. + +As she approached, out popped the head of Alec Forbes. He had been +listening for the sound of her feet. She held up the loaf as high as +she could, and he stretched down as low as he could, and so their hands +met on the loaf. + +"Thank ye, Annie," said Alec with earnestness. "I shanna forget this. +Hoo got ye't?" + +"Never ye min' that. I didna steal't," answered Annie. "But I maun win +in again," she added, suddenly awaking to that difficult necessity, and +looking up at the window above her head. + +"I'm a predestined idiot!" said Alec, with an impious allusion to the +Shorter Catechism, as he scratched his helpless head. "I never thocht +o' that." + +It was clearly impossible. + +"Ye'll catch't," said one of the urchins to Annie, with his nose +flattened against the window. + +The roses of Annie's face turned pale, but she answered stoutly, + +"Weel! I care as little as the lave o' ye, I'm thinkin'." + +By this time the "idiot" had made up his mind. He never could make up +any other than a bull-headed mind. + +"Rin hame, Annie," he said; "and gin Murder offers to lay a finger o' +ye upo' Monday, _I'll_ murder him. Faith! I'll kill him. Rin hame afore +he comes and catches ye at the window." + +"No, no, Alec," pleaded Annie. + +"Haud yer tongue," interrupted Alec, "and rin, will ye?" + +Seeing he was quite determined, Annie, though loath to leave him, and +in terror of what was implied in the threats he uttered against the +master and might be involved in the execution of them, obeyed him and +walked leisurely home, avoiding the quarters in which there was a +chance of meeting her gaoler. + +She found that no one had observed her former visit; the only remarks +made being some _goody_ ones about the disgrace of being kept in. + +When Mr Malison returned to the school about four o'clock, he found all +quiet as death. The boys appeared totally absorbed in _committing_ the +Shorter Catechism, as if the Shorter Catechism was a sin, which perhaps +it was not. But, to his surprise, which he pretended to be considerably +greater than it really was, the girl was absent. + +"Where is Ann Anderson?" were the first words he condescended to utter. + +"Gane hame," cried two of the little prisoners. + +"Gone home!" echoed the master in a tone of savage incredulity; +although not only was it plain that she was gone, but he must have +known well enough, from former experience, how her escape had been +effected. + +"Yes," said Forbes; "it was me made her go. I put her out at the +window. And I broke the window," he added, knowing that it must soon be +found out, "but I'll get it mended on Monday." + +Malison turned as white as a sheet with venomous rage. Indeed, the +hopelessness of the situation had made Alec speak with too much +nonchalance. + +Anxious to curry favour, the third youngster now called out, + +"Sandy Forbes gart her gang an' fess a loaf o' white breid." + +Of this bread, the wretched informer had still some of the crumbs +sticking to his jacket--so vitiating is the influence of a reign of +terror. The bread was eaten, and the giver might be betrayed in the +hope of gaining a little favour with the tyrant. + +"Alexander Forbes, come up." + +Beyond this point I will not here prosecute the narrative. + +Alec bore his punishment with great firmness, although there were few +beholders, and none of them worth considering. After he had spent his +wrath, the master allowed them all to depart without further reference +to the Shorter Catechism. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +The Sunday following was anything but a day of repose for Annie--she +looked with such frightful anticipation to the coming Monday. Nor was +the assurance with which Alec Forbes had sent her away, and which she +was far from forgetting, by any means productive of unmingled +consolation; for, in a conflict with such a power of darkness as Mr +Malison, how could Alec, even if sure to be victorious as any knight of +old story, come off without injury terrible and not to be contemplated! +Yet, strange to tell--or was it really strange?--as she listened to the +evening sermon, a sermon quietly and gently enforcing the fate of the +ungodly, it was not with exultation at the tardy justice that would +overtake such men as Murdock Malison or Robert Bruce, nor yet with pity +for their fate, that she listened; but with anxious heart-aching fear +for her friend, the noble, the generous Alec Forbes, who withstood +authority, and was therefore in danger of hell-fire. About her own +doom, speculation was uninteresting. + +The awful morning dawned. When she woke, and the thought of what she +had to meet came back on her, though it could hardly be said to have +been a moment absent all night long, she turned, not metaphorically, +but physically sick. Yet breakfast time would come, and worship did not +fail to follow, and then to school she must go. There all went on as +usual for some time. The Bible-class was called up, heard, and +dismissed; and Annie was beginning to hope that the whole affair was +somehow or other wrapt up and laid by. She had heard nothing of Alec's +fate after she had left him imprisoned, and except a certain stoniness +in his look, which a single glance discovered, his face gave no sign. +She dared not lift her eyes from the spelling-book before her, to look +in the direction of the master. No murderer could have felt more keenly +as if all the universe were one eye, and that eye fixed on him, than +Annie. + +Suddenly the awful voice resounded through the school, and the words it +uttered--though even after she heard them it seemed too terrible to be +true--were, + +"Ann Anderson, come up." + +For a moment she lost consciousness--or at least memory. When she +recovered herself, she found herself standing before the master. His +voice seemed to have left two or three unanswered questions somewhere +in her head. What they were she had no idea. But presently he spoke +again, and, from the tone, what he said was evidently the repetition of +a question--probably put more than once before. + +"Did you, or did you not, go out at the window on Saturday?" + +She did not see that Alec Forbes had left his seat, and was slowly +lessening the distance between them and him. + +"Yes," she answered, trembling from head to foot. + +"Did you, or did you not, bring a loaf of bread to those who were kept +in?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Where did you get it?" + +"I bought it, sir." + +"Where did you get the money?" + +Of course every eye in the school was fixed upon her, those of her +cousins sparkling with delight. + +"I got it oot o' my ain kist, sir." + +"Hold up your hand." + +Annie obeyed, with a most pathetic dumb terror pleading in her face. + +"Don't touch her," said Alec Forbes, stepping between the executioner +and his victim. "You know well enough it was all my fault. I told you +so on Saturday." + +Murder Malison, as the boys called him, turned with the tawse over his +shoulder, whence it had been on the point of swooping upon Annie, and +answered him with a hissing blow over his down-bent head, followed by a +succession of furious blows upon every part of his person, as it +twisted and writhed and doubled; till, making no attempt at resistance, +he was knocked down by the storm, and lay prostrate under the fierce +lashes, the master holding him down with one foot, and laying on with +the whole force of the opposite arm. At length Malison stopped, +exhausted, and turning, white with rage, towards Annie, who was almost +in a fit with agony, repeated the order: + +"Hold up your hand." + +But as he turned Alec bounded to his feet, his face glowing, and his +eyes flashing, and getting round in front, sprang at the master's +throat, just as the tawse was descending. Malison threw him off, and +lifting his weapon once more, swept it with a stinging lash round his +head and face. Alec, feeling that this was no occasion on which to +regard the rules of fair fight, stooped his head, and rushed, like a +ram, or a negro, full tilt against the pit of Malison's stomach, and +doubling him up, sent him with a crash into the peat fire which was +glowing on the hearth. In the attempt to save himself, he thrust his +hand right into it, and Alec and Annie were avenged. + +Alec rushed to drag him off the fire; but he was up before he reached +him. + +"Go home!" he bawled to the scholars generally, and sat down at his +desk to hide his suffering. + +For one brief moment there was silence. Then a tumult arose, a +shouting, and holloing, and screeching, and the whole school rushed to +the door, as if the devil had been after them to catch the hindmost. +Strange uproar invaded the ears of Glamerton--strange, that is, at +eleven o'clock in the forenoon of Monday--the uproar of jubilant +freedom. + +But the culprits, Annie and Alec, stood and stared at the master, whose +face was covered with one hand, while the other hung helpless at his +side. Annie stopped partly out of pity for the despot, and partly +because Alec stopped. Alec stopped because he was the author of the +situation--at least he never could give any better reason. + +At length Mr Malison lifted his head, and made a movement towards his +hat. He started when he saw the two standing there. But the moment he +looked at them their courage failed them. + +"Rin, Annie!" said Alec. + +Away she bolted, and he after her, as well as he could, which was not +with his usual fleetness by any means. When Annie had rounded a corner, +not in the master's way home, she stopped, and looked back for Alec. He +was a good many paces behind her; and then first she discovered the +condition of her champion. For now that the excitement was over, he +could scarcely walk, and evidence in kind was not wanting that from +head to foot he must be one mass of wales and bruises. He put his hand +on her shoulder to help him along, and made no opposition to her +accompanying him as far as the gate of his mother's garden, which was +nearly a mile from the town, on the further bank of one of the rivers +watering the valley-plain in which Glamerton had stood for hundreds of +years. Then she went slowly home, bearing with her the memory of the +smile which, in spite of pain, had illuminated his tawse-waled cheeks, +as she took her leave. + +"Good-bye, dear Alec!" she had said. + +"Good-bye, Annie dear," he had answered, with the smile; and she had +watched him crawl into the house before she turned away. + +When she got home, she saw at once, from the black looks of the Bruce, +that the story, whether in its trite shape or not, had arrived before +her. + +Nothing was said, however, till after worship; when Bruce gave her a +long lecture, as impressive as the creature was capable of making it, +on the wickedness and certain punishment of "takin' up wi' ill loons +like Sandy Forbes, wha was brakin' his mither's hert wi' his baad +behaviour." But he came to the conclusion, as he confided to his wife +that night, that the lassie "was growin' hardent already;" probably +from her being in a state of too great excitement from the events of +the day to waste a tear upon his lecture; for, as she said in the +hearing of the rottans, when she went up to bed, she "_didna care a +flee for't_." But the moment she lay down she fell to weeping bitterly +over the sufferings of Alec. She was asleep in a moment after, however. +If it had not been for the power of sleeping that there was in the +child, she must long before now have given way to the hostile +influences around her, and died. + +There was considerable excitement about the hearths of Glamerton, +generally, in consequence of the news of the master's defeat carried +home by the children. For, although it was amazing how little of the +doings at school the children were in the habit of reporting--so +little, indeed, that this account involved revelations of the character +and proceedings of Mr Malison which appeared to many of the parents +quite incredible--the present occurrence so far surpassed the ordinary, +and had excited the beholders so much, that they could not be quiet +about it. Various were the judgments elicited by the story. The +religious portion of the community seemed to their children to side +with the master; the worldly--namely, those who did not profess to be +particularly religious--all sided with Alec Forbes; with the exception +of a fish-cadger, who had one son, the plague of his life. + +Amongst the religious, there was, at least, one exception, too; but he +had no children of his own, and had a fancy for Alec Forbes. That +exception was Thomas Crann, the stone-mason. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +Thomas Crann was building a house; for he was both contractor--in a +small way, it is true, not undertaking to do anything without the +advance of a good part of the estimate--and day-labourer at his own +job. Having arrived at the point in the process where the assistance of +a carpenter was necessary, he went to George Macwha, whom he found at +his bench, planing. This bench was in a work-shop, with two or three +more benches in it, some deals set up against the wall, a couple of red +cart-wheels sent in for repair, and the tools and materials of his +trade all about. The floor was covered with shavings, or _spales_, as +they are called by northern consent, which a poor woman was busy +gathering into a sack. After a short and gruff greeting on the part of +Crann, and a more cordial reply from Macwha, who ceased his labour to +attend to his visitor, they entered on the business-question, which +having been carefully and satisfactorily discussed, with the aid of +various diagrams upon the half-planed deal, Macwha returned to his +work, and the conversation took a more general scope, accompanied by +the sounds of Macwha's busy instrument. + +"A terrible laddie, that Sandy Forbes!" said the carpenter, with a sort +of laugh in the _whishk_ of his plane, as he threw off a splendid +_spale_. "They say he's lickit the dominie, and 'maist been the deid o' +him." + +"I hae kent waur laddies nor Sandy Forbes," was Thomas's curt reply. + +"Ow, deed ay! I ken naething agen the laddie. Him an' oor Willie's unco +throng." + +To this the sole answer Thomas gave was a grunt, and a silence of a few +seconds followed before he spoke, reverting to the point from which +they had started. + +"I'm no clear but Alec micht hae committed a waur sin than thrashin' +the dominie. He's a dour crater, that Murdoch Malison, wi' his fair +face and his picket words. I doot the bairns hae the warst o' 't in +general. And for Alec I hae great houpes. He comes o' a guid stock. His +father, honest man, was ane o' the Lord's ain, although he didna mak' +sic a stan' as, maybe, he ought to hae dune; and gin his mither has +been jist raither saft wi' him, and gi'en him ower lang a tether, he'll +come a' richt afore lang, for he's worth luikin efter." + +"I dinna richtly unnerstan' ye, Thamas." + +"I dinna think the Lord 'll tyne the grip o' his father's son. He's no +convertit yet, but he's weel worth convertin', for there's guid stuff +in him." + +Thomas did not consider how his common sense was running away with his +theology. But Macwha was not the man to bring him to book on that +score. His only reply lay in the careless _whishk whashk_ of his plane. +Thomas resumed: + +"He jist wants what ye want, Gleorge Macwha." + +"What's that, Thamas?" asked George, with a grim attempt at a smile, as +if to say: "I know what's coming, but I'm not going to mind it." + +"He jist wants to be weel shaken ower the mou' o' the pit. He maun +smell the brunstane o' the everlastin' burnin's. He's nane o' yer saft +buirds, that ye can sleek wi' a sweyp o' yer airm; he's a blue +whunstane that's hard to dress, but, anes dressed, it bides the weather +bonnie. I like to work upo' hard stane mysel. Nane o' yer saft +freestane, 'at ye cud cut wi' a k-nife, for me!" + +"Weel, I daursay ye're richt, Thamas." + +"And, forbye, they say he took a' his ain licks ohn said a word, and +flew at the maister only whan he was gaein to lick the puir orphan +lassie--Jeames Anderson's lassie, ye ken." + +"Ow! ay. It's the same tale they a' tell. I hae nae doobt it's +correck." + +"Weel, lat him tak it, than, an' be thankfu'! for it's no more than was +weel waured (spent) on him." + +With these conclusive words, Thomas departed. He was no sooner out of +the shop, than out started, from behind the deal boards that stood +against the wall, Willie, the eldest hope of the house of Macwha, a +dusky-skinned, black-eyed, curly-headed, roguish-looking boy, Alec +Forbes's companion and occasional accomplice. He was more mischievous +than Alec, and sometimes led him into unforeseen scrapes; but whenever +anything extensive had to be executed, Alec was always the leader. + +"What are ye hidin' for, ye rascal?" said his father. "What mischeef +hae ye been efter noo?" + +"Naething by ordinar'," was Willie's cool reply. + +"What garred ye hide, than?" + +"Tam Crann never sets ee upo' me, but he misca's me, an' I dinna like +to be misca'd, mair nor ither fowk." + +"Ye get nae mair nor ye deserve, I doobt," returned George. "Here, tak +the chisel, and cut that beadin' into len'ths." + +"I'm gaein' ower the water to speir efter Alec," was the excusatory +rejoinder. + +"Ay, ay! pot and pan!--What ails Alec noo?" + +"Mr Malison's nearhan' killed him. He hasna been at the schuil this twa +days." + +With these words Willie bolted from the shop, and set off at full +speed. The latter part of his statement was perfectly true. + +The day after the fight, Mr Malison came to the school as usual, but +with his arm in a sling. To Annie's dismay, Alec did not make his +appearance. + +It had of course been impossible to conceal his corporal condition from +his mother; and the heart of the widow so yearned over the suffering of +her son, though no confession of suffering escaped Alec's lips, that +she vowed in anger that he should never cross the door of that school +again. For three or four days she held immovably to her resolution, +much to Alec's annoyance, and to the consternation of Mr Malison, who +feared that he had not only lost a pupil, but made an enemy. For Mr +Malison had every reason for being as smooth-faced with the parents as +he always was: he had ulterior hopes in Glamerton. The clergyman was +getting old, and Mr Malison was a licentiate of the Church; and +although the people had no direct voice in the filling of the pulpit, +it was very desirable that a candidate should have none but friends in +the parish. + +Mr Malison made no allusion whatever to the events of Monday, and +things went on as usual in the school, with just one exception: for a +whole week the tawse did not make its appearance. This was owing in +part at least to the state of his hand; but if he had ever wished to be +freed from the necessity of using the lash, he might have derived hope +from the fact that somehow or other the boys were during this week no +worse than usual. I do not pretend to explain the fact, and beg leave +to refer it to occult meteorological influences. + +As soon as school was over on that first day of Alec's absence, Annie +darted off on the road to Howglen, where he lived, and never dropped +into a walk till she reached the garden-gate. Fully conscious of the +inferiority of her position, she went to the kitchen door. The door was +opened to her knock before she had recovered breath enough to speak. +The servant, seeing a girl with a shabby dress, and a dirty bonnet, +from underneath which hung disorderly masses of hair--they would have +_glinted_ in the eye of the sun, but in the eye of the maid they looked +only dusky and disreputable--for Annie was not kept so tidy on the +interest of her money as she had been at the farm--the girl, I say, +seeing this, and finding besides, as she thought, that Annie had +nothing to say, took her for a beggar, and returning into the kitchen, +brought her a piece of oat-cake, the common dole to the young +mendicants of the time. Annie's face flushed crimson, but she said +gently, having by this time got her runaway breath a little more under +control, + +"No, I thank ye; I'm no a beggar. I only wanted to ken hoo Alec was the +day." + +"Come in," said the girl, anxious to make some amends for her blunder, +"and I'll tell the mistress." + +Annie would gladly have objected, contenting herself with the maid's +own account; but she felt rather than understood that there would be +something undignified in refusing to face Alec's mother; so she +followed the maid into the kitchen, and sat down on the edge of a +wooden chair, like a perching bird, till she should return. + +"Please, mem, here's a lassie wantin' to ken hoo Maister Alec is the +day," said Mary, with the handle of the parlour door in her hand. + +"That must be little Annie Anderson, mamma," said Alec, who was lying +on the sofa very comfortable, considering what he had to lie upon. + +It may be guessed at once that Scotch was quite discouraged at home. + +Alec had told his mother all about the affair; and some of her friends +from Glamerton, who likewise had sons at the school, had called and +given their versions of the story, in which the prowess of Alec made +more of than in his own account. Indeed, all his fellow-scholars except +the young Bruces, sung his praises aloud; for, whatever the degree of +their affection for Alec, every one of them hated the master--a +terrible thought for him, if he had been able to appreciate it; but I +do not believe he had any suspicion of the fact that he was the centre +of converging thoughts of revengeful dislike. So the mother was proud +of her boy--far prouder than she was willing for him to see: indeed, +she put on the guise of the offended proprieties as much as she could +in his presence, thus making Alec feel like a culprit in hers, which +was more than she intended, or would have liked, could she have peeped +into his mind. So she could not help feeling some interest in Annie, +and some curiosity to see her. She had known James Anderson, her +father, and he had been her guest more than once when he had called +upon business. Everybody had liked him; and this general approbation +was owing to no lack of character, but to his genuine kindness of +heart. So Mrs Forbes was prejudiced in Annie's favour--but far more by +her own recollections of the father, than by her son's representations +of the daughter. + +"Tell her to come up, Mary," she said. + +So Annie, with all the disorganization of school about her, was shown, +considerably to her discomfort, into Mrs Forbes's dining-room. + +There was nothing remarkable in the room; but to Annie's eyes it seemed +magnificent, for carpet and curtains, sideboard and sofa, were luxuries +altogether strange to her eyes. So she entered very timidly, and stood +trembling and pale--for she rarely blushed except when angry--close to +the door. But Alec scrambled from the sofa, and taking hold of her by +both hands, pulled her up to his mother. + +"There she is, mamma!" he said. + +And Mrs Forbes, although her sense of the fitness of things was not +gratified at seeing her son treat with such familiarity a girl so +neglectedly attired, yet received her kindly and shook hands with her. + +"How do you do, Annie?" she said. + +"Quite well, I thank ye, mem," answered Annie, showing in her voice +that she was owerawed by the grand lady, yet mistress enough of her +manners not to forget a pretty modest courtesy as she spoke. + +"What's gaein' on at the school the day, Annie?" asked Alec. + +"Naething by ordidar," answered Annie, the sweetness of her tones +contrasting with the roughness of the dialect. "The maister's a hantle +quaieter than usual. I fancy he's a' the better behaved for's brunt +fingers. But, oh, Alec!" + +And here the little maiden burst into a passionate fit of crying. + +"What's the matter, Annie," said Mrs Forbes, as she drew her nearer, +genuinely concerned at the child's tears. + +"Oh! mem, ye didna see hoo the maister lickit him, or ye wad hae +grutten yersel'." + +Tears from some mysterious source sprang to Mrs Forbes's eyes. But at +the moment Mary opened the door, and said-- + +"Here's Maister Bruce, mem, wantin' to see ye." + +"Tell him to walk up, Mary." + +"Oh! no, no, mem; dinna lat him come till I'm out o' this. He'll tak' +me wi' him," cried Annie. + +Mary stood waiting the result. + +"But you must go home, you know, Annie," said Mrs Forbes, kindly. + +"Ay, but no wi' _him_," pleaded Annie. + +From what Mrs Forbes knew of the manners and character of Bruce, she +was not altogether surprised at Annie's reluctance. So, turning to the +maid, she said-- + +"Have you told Mr Bruce that Miss Anderson is here?" + +"Me tell him! No, mem. What's _his_ business?" + +"Mary, you forget yourself." + +"Weel, mem, I canna bide him." + +"Hold your tongue, Mary," said her mistress, hardly able to restrain +her own amusement, "and take the child into my room till he is gone. +But perhaps he knows you are here, Annie?" + +"He canna ken that, mem. He jumps at things whiles, though, sharp +eneuch." + +"Well, well! We shall see." + +So Mary led Annie away to the sanctuary of Mrs Forbes's bed-room. + +But the Bruce was not upon Annie's track at all. His visit wants a few +words of explanation. + +Bruce's father had been a faithful servant to Mr Forbes's father, who +held the same farm before his son, both having been what are called +gentlemen-farmers. The younger Bruce, being anxious to set up a shop, +had, for his father's sake, been assisted with money by the elder +Forbes. This money he had repaid before the death of the old man, who +had never asked any interest for it. More than a few years had not +passed before Bruce, who had a wonderful capacity for petty business, +was known to have accumulated some savings in the bank. Now the younger +Forbes, being considerably more enterprising than his father, had spent +all his capital upon improvements--draining, fencing, and such +like--when a younger brother, to whom he was greatly attached, applied +to him for help in an emergency, and he had nothing of his own within +his reach wherewith to aid him. In this difficulty he bethought him of +Bruce, to borrow from whom would not involve the exposure of the fact +that he was in any embarrassment, however temporary--an exposure very +undesirable in a country town like Glamerton. + +After a thorough investigation of the solvency of Mr Forbes, and a +proper delay for consideration besides, Bruce supplied him with a +hundred pounds upon personal bond, at the usual rate of interest, for a +certain term of years. Mr Forbes died soon after, leaving his affairs +in some embarrassment in consequence of his outlay. Mrs Forbes had paid +the interest of the debt now for two years; but, as the rent of the +farm was heavy, she found this additional trifle a burden. She had good +reason, however, to hope for better times, as the farm must soon +increase its yield. Mr Bruce, on his part, regarded the widow with +somewhat jealous eyes, because he very much doubted whether, when the +day arrived, she would be able to pay him the money she owed him. That +day was, however, not just at hand. It was this diversion of his +resources, and not the moral necessity for a nest-egg, as he had +represented the case to Margaret Anderson, which had urged him to show +hospitality to Annie Anderson and her little fortune. + +So neither was it anxiety for the welfare of Alec that induced him to +call on Mrs Forbes. Indeed if Malison had killed him outright, he would +have been rather pleased than otherwise. But he was in the habit of +reminding the widow of his existence by all occasional call, especially +when the time approached for the half-yearly payment of the interest. +And now the report of Alec's condition gave him a suitable pretext for +looking in upon his debtor, without, as he thought, appearing too +greedy after his money. + +"Weel, mem, hoo are ye the day?" said he, as he entered, rubbing his +hands. + +"Quite well, thank you, Mr Bruce. Take a seat." + +"An' hoo's Mr Alec?" + +"There he is to answer for himself," said Mrs Forbes, looking towards +the sofa. + +"Hoo are ye, Mr Alec, efter a' this?" said Bruce, turning towards him. + +"Quite well, thank you," answered Alec, in a tone that did not +altogether please either of the listeners. + +"I thocht ye had been raither sair, sir," returned Bruce, in an acid +tone. + +"I've got a wale or two, that's all," said Alec. + +"Weel, I houp it'll be a lesson to ye." + +"To Mr Malison, you should have said, Mr Bruce. I am perfectly +satisfied, for my part." + +His mother was surprised to hear him speak like a grown man, as well as +annoyed at his behaviour to Bruce, in whose power she feared they might +one day find themselves to their cost. But she said nothing. Bruce, +likewise, was rather nonplussed. He grinned a smile and was silent. + +"I hear you have taken James Anderson's daughter into your family now, +Mr Bruce." + +"Ow, ay, mem. There was nobody to luik efter the bit lassie; sae, +though I cud but ill affoord it, wi' my ain sma' faimily comin' up, I +was jist in a mainner obleeged to tak' her, Jeames Anderson bein' a +cousin o' my ain, ye ken, mem." + +"Well, I am sure it was very kind of you and Mrs Bruce. How does the +child get on?" + +"Middlin', mem, middlin'. She's jist some ill for takin' up wi' loons." + +Here he glanced at Alec, with an expression of successful spite. He +certainly had the best of it now. + +Alec was on the point of exclaiming "That's a lie," but he had prudence +enough to restrain himself, perceiving that the contradiction would +have a better chance with his mother if he delayed its utterance till +after the departure of Bruce. So, meantime, the subject was not +pursued. A little desultory conversation followed, and the visitor +departed, with a laugh from between his teeth as he took leave of Alec, +which I can only describe as embodying an _I told you so_ sort of +satisfaction. + +Almost as soon as he was out of the house the parlour-door opened, and +Mary brought in Annie. Mrs Forbes's eyes were instantly fixed on her +with mild astonishment, and something of a mother's tenderness awoke in +her heart towards the little maid-child. What would she not have given +for such a daughter! During Bruce's call, Mary had been busy with the +child. She had combed and brushed her thick brown hair, and, taken with +its exceeding beauty, had ventured on a stroke of originality no one +would have expected of her: she had left it hanging loose on her +shoulders. Any one would think such an impropriety impossible to a +Scotchwoman. But then she had been handling the hair, and contact with +anything alters so much one's theories about it. If Mary had found it +so, instead of making it so, she would have said it was "no dacent." +But the hair gave her its own theory before she had done with it, and +this was the result. She had also washed her face and hands and neck, +made the best she could of her poor, dingy dress, and put one of her +own Sunday collars upon her. + +Annie had submitted to it all without question; and thus adorned, Mary +introduced her again to the dining-room. Before Mrs Forbes had time to +discover that she was shocked, she was captivated by the pale, patient +face, and the longing blue eyes, that looked at her as if the child +felt that she ought to have been her mother, but somehow they had +missed each other. They gazed out of the shadows of the mass of dark +brown wavy hair that fell to her waist, and there was no more any need +for Alec to contradict Bruce's calumny. But Mrs Forbes was speedily +recalled to a sense of propriety by observing that Alec too was staring +at Annie with a mingling of amusement, admiration, and respect. + +"What have you been about, Mary?" she said, in a tone of attempted +reproof. "You have made a perfect fright of the child. Take her away." + +When Annie was once more brought back, with her hair restored to its +net, silent tears of mortification were still flowing down her +cheeks.--When Annie cried, the tears always rose and flowed without any +sound or convulsion. Rarely did she sob even.--This completed the +conquest of Mrs Forbes's heart. She drew the little one to her, and +kissed her, and Annie's tears instantly ceased to rise, while Mrs +Forbes wiped away those still lingering on her face. Mary then went to +get the tea, and Mrs Forbes having left the room for a moment to +recover that self-possession, the loss of which is peculiarly +objectionable to a Scotchwoman, Annie was left seated on a footstool +before the bright fire, the shadows from which were now dancing about +the darkening room, and Alec lay on the sofa looking at her. There was +no great occasion for his lying on the sofa, but his mother desired it, +and Alec had at present no particular objection. + +"I wadna like to be gran' fowk," mused Annie aloud, for getting that +she was not alone. + +"We're no gran' fowk, Annie," said Alec. + +"Ay are ye," returned Annie, persistently. + +"Weel, what for wadna ye like it?" + +"Ye maun be aye feared for blaudin' things." + +"Mamma wad tell ye a different story," rejoined Alec laughing. "There's +naething here to blaud (spoil)." + +Mrs Forbes returned. Tea was brought in. Annie comported herself like a +lady, and, after tea, ran home with mingled feelings of pleasure and +pain. For, notwithstanding her assertion that she would not like to be +"gran' fowk," the kitchen fire, small and dull, the smelling shop, and +her own dreary garret-room, did not seem more desirable from her peep +into the warmth and comfort of the house at Howglen. + +Questioned as to what had delayed her return from school, she told the +truth; that she had gone to ask after Alec Forbes, and that they had +kept her to tea. + +"I tauld them that ye ran efter the loons!" said Bruce triumphantly. +Then stung with the reflection that _he_ had not been asked to stay to +tea, he added: "It's no for the likes o' you, Annie, to gang to +gentlefowk's hooses, makin' free whaur ye're no wantit. Sae dinna lat +me hear the like again." + +But it was wonderful how Bruce's influence over Annie, an influence of +distress, was growing gradually weaker. He could make her uncomfortable +enough; but as to his opinion of her, she had almost reached the point +of not caring a straw for that. And she had faith enough in Alec to +hope that he would defend her from whatever Bruce might have said +against her. + +Whether Mary had been talking in the town, as is not improbable, about +little Annie Anderson's visit to her mistress, and so the story of the +hair came to be known, or not, I cannot tell; but it was a notable +coincidence that a few days after, Mrs Bruce came to the back-door, +with a great pair of shears in her hand, and calling Annie, said: + +"Here, Annie! Yer hair's ower lang. I maun jist clip it. It's giein ye +sair een." + +"There's naething the maitter wi' my een," said Annie gently. + +"Dinna answer back. Sit doon," returned Mrs Bruce, leading her into the +kitchen. + +Annie cared very little for her hair, and well enough remembered that +Mrs Forbes had said it made a fright of her; so it was with no great +reluctance that she submitted to the operation. Mrs Bruce chopped it +short off all round. As, however, this permitted what there was of it +to fall about her face, there being too little to confine in the usual +prison of the net, her appearance did not bear such marks of +deprivation, or, in other and Scotch words, "she didna luik sae +dockit," as might have been expected. + +Her wavy locks of rich brown were borne that night, by the careful hand +of Mrs Bruce, to Rob Guddle, the barber. Nor was the hand less careful +that brought back their equivalent in money. With a smile to her +husband, half loving and half cunning, Mrs Bruce dropped the amount +into the till. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +Although Alec Forbes was not a boy of quick receptivity as far as books +were concerned, and therefore was no favourite with Mr Malison, he was +not by any means a common or a stupid boy. His own eyes could teach him +more than books could, for he had a very quick observation of things +about him, both in what is commonly called nature and in humanity. He +knew all the birds, all their habits, and all their eggs. Not a boy in +Glamerton could find a nest quicker than he, or when found treated it +with such respect. For he never took young birds, and seldom more than +half of the eggs. Indeed he was rather an uncommon boy, having, along +with more than the usual amount of activity even for a boy, a +tenderness of heart altogether rare in boys. He was as familiar with +the domestic animals and their ways of feeling and acting as Annie +herself. Anything like cruelty he detested; and yet, as occasion will +show, he could execute stern justice. With the world of men around him, +he was equally conversant. He knew the characters of the simple people +wonderfully well; and _took to_ Thomas Crann more than to any one else, +notwithstanding that Thomas would read him a long lecture sometimes. To +these lectures Alec would listen seriously enough, believing Thomas to +be right; though he could never make up his mind to give any after +attention to what he required of him. + +The first time Alec met Thomas after the affair with the dominie, was +on the day before he was to go back to school; for his mother had +yielded at last to his entreaties. Thomas was building an addition to a +water-mill on the banks of the Glamour not far from where Alec lived, +and Alec had strolled along thither to see how the structure was going +on. He expected a sharp rebuke for his behaviour to Mr Malison, but +somehow he was not afraid of Thomas, and was resolved to face it out. +The first words Thomas uttered, however, were: + +"Weel, Alec, can ye tell me what was the name o' King Dawvid's mither?" + +"I can_not_, Thomas," answered Alec. "What was it?" + +"Fin' ye that oot. Turn ower yer Bible. Hae ye been back to the school +yet?" + +"No. I'm gaein the morn." + +"Ye're no gaein to strive wi' the maister afore nicht, are ye?" + +"I dinna ken," answered Alec. "Maybe he'll strive wi' me.--But ye ken, +Thomas," he continued, defending himself from what he supposed Thomas +was thinking, "King Dawvid himsel' killed the giant." + +"Ow! ay; a' richt. I'm no referrin' to that. Maybe ye did verra richt. +But tak care, Alec--" here Thomas paused from his work, and turning +towards the boy with a trowelful of mortar in his hand, spoke very +slowly and solemnly--"tak ye care that ye beir no malice against the +maister. Justice itsel," dune for the sake o' a private grudge, will +bunce back upo' the doer. I hae little doobt the maister'll be the +better for't; but gin ye be the waur, it'll be an ill job, Alec, my +man." + +"I hae no ill-will at him, Thomas." + +"Weel, jist watch yer ain hert, and bewaur ye o' that. I wad coonsel ye +to try and please him a grainie mair nor ordinar'. It's no that easy to +the carnal man, but ye ken we ought to crucify the auld man, wi' his +affections and lusts." + +"Weel, I'll try," said Alec, to whom it was not nearly so difficult as +Thomas imagined. His _man_ apparently was not very old yet. + +And he did try; and the master seemed to appreciate his endeavours, and +to accept them as a peace-offering, thus showing that he really was the +better for the punishment he had received. + +It would be great injustice to Mr Malison to judge him by the feeling +of the present day. It was the custom of the time and of the country to +use the tawse unsparingly; for _law_ having been, and still, in a great +measure, being, the highest idea generated of the divine by the +ordinary Scotch mind, it must be supported, at all risks even, by means +of the leather strap. In the hands of a wise and even-tempered man, no +harm could result from the use of this instrument of justice; but in +the hands of a fierce-tempered and therefore changeable man, of small +moral stature, and liable to prejudices and offence, it became the +means of unspeakable injury to those under his care; not the least of +which was the production, in delicate natures, of doubt and hesitancy, +sometimes deepening into cowardice and lying. + +Mr Malison had nothing of the childlike in himself, and consequently +never saw the mind of the child whose person he was assailing with a +battery of excruciating blows. A _man_ ought to be able to endure grief +suffering wrongfully, and be none the worse; but who dares demand that +of a child? Well it is for such masters that even they are judged by +the heart of a father, and not by the law of a king, that worst of all +the fictions of an ignorant and low theology. And if they must receive +punishment, at least it will not be the heartless punishment which they +inflicted on the boys and girls under their law. + +Annie began to be regarded as a protegee of Alec Forbes, and as Alec +was a favourite with most of his schoolfellows, and was feared where he +was not loved, even her cousins began to look upon her with something +like respect, and mitigate their persecutions. But she did not +therefore become much more reconciled to her position; for the habits +and customs of her home were distasteful to her, and its whole +atmosphere uncongenial. Nor could it have been otherwise in any house +where the entire anxiety was, first, to make money, and next, not to +spend it. The heads did not in the least know that they were unkind to +her. On the contrary, Bruce thought himself a pattern of generosity if +he gave her a scrap of string; and Mrs Bruce, when she said to +inquiring gossips "The bairn's like ither bairns--she's weel eneuch," +thought herself a pattern of justice or even of forbearance. But both +were jealous of her, in relation to their own children; and when Mrs +Forbes sent for her one Saturday, soon after her first visit, they +hardly concealed their annoyance at the preference shown her by one who +was under such great obligation to the parents of other children every +way superior to her whose very presence somehow or other made them +uncomfortable. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +The winter drew on--a season as different from the summer in those +northern latitudes, as if it belonged to another solar system. Cold and +stormy, it is yet full of delight for all beings that can either romp, +sleep, or think it through. But alas for the old and sickly, in poor +homes, with scanty food and firing! Little children suffer too, though +the gift of forgetfulness does for them what the gift of faith does for +their parents--helps them over many troubles, besides tingling fingers +and stony feet. There would be many tracks of those small feet in the +morning snow, leading away across the fresh-fallen clouds from the +house and cottage doors; for the barbarity of _morning-school_, that +is, an hour and a half of dreary lessons before breakfast, was in full +operation at Glamerton. + +The winter came. One morning, all the children awoke, and saw a white +world around them. Alec jumped out of bed in delight. It was a sunny, +frosty morning. The snow had fallen all night, with its own silence, +and no wind had interfered with the gracious alighting of the feathery +water. Every branch, every twig, was laden with its sparkling burden of +down-flickered flakes, and threw long lovely shadows on the smooth +featureless dazzle below. Away, away, stretched the outspread glory, +the only darkness in it being the line of the winding river. All the +snow that fell on it vanished, as death and hell shall one day vanish +in the fire of God. It flowed on, black through its banks of white. +Away again stretched the shine to the town, where every roof had the +sheet that was let down from heaven spread over it, and the streets lay +a foot deep in yet unsullied snow, soon, like the story of the ages, to +be trampled, soiled, wrought, and driven with human feet, till, at +last, God's strong sun would wipe it all away. + +From the door opening into this fairy-land, Alec sprang into the +untrodden space, as into a new America. He had discovered a world, +without even the print of human foot upon it. The keen air made him +happy; and the face of nature, looking as peaceful as the face of a +dead man dreaming of heaven, wrought in him jubilation and leaping. He +was at the school door before a human being had appeared in the streets +of Glamerton. Its dwellers all lay still under those sheets of snow, +which seemed to hold them asleep in its cold enchantment. + +Before any of his fellows made their appearance, he had kneaded and +piled a great heap of snowballs, and stood by his pyramid, prepared for +the offensive. He attacked the first that came, and soon there was a +troop of boys pelting away at him. But with his store of balls at his +foot, he was able to pay pretty fairly for what he received; till, that +being exhausted, he was forced to yield the unequal combat. By-and-by +the little ones gathered, with Annie amongst them; but they kept aloof, +for fear of the flying balls, for the boys had divided into two equal +parties, and were pelting away at each other. At length the woman who +had charge of the school-room, having finished lighting the fire, +opened the door, and Annie, who was very cold, made a run for it, +during a lull in the fury of the battle. + +"Stop," cried Alec; and the balling ceased, that Annie, followed by a +few others, might pass in safety through the midst of the combatants. +One boy, however, just as Annie was entering, threw a ball after her. +He missed her, but Alec did not miss him; for scarcely was the ball out +of his hand when he received another, right between his eyes. Over he +went, amidst a shout of satisfaction. + +When the master appeared at the top of the lane the fight came to a +close; and as he entered the school, the group round the fire broke up +and dispersed. Alec, having entered close behind the master, overtook +Annie as she went to her seat, for he had observed, as she ran into the +school, that she was lame--indeed limping considerably. + +"What's the maitter wi' ye, Annie?" he said. "What gars ye hirple?" + +"Juno bitet me," answered Annie. + +"Ay! Verra weel!" returned Alec, in a tone that had more meaning than +the words. + +Soon after the Bible-class was over, and they had all taken their +seats, a strange quiet stir and excitement gradually arose, like the +first motions of a whirlpool at the turn of the tide. The master became +aware of more than the usual flitting to and fro amongst the boys, just +like the coming and going which preludes the swarming of bees. But as +he had little or no constructive power, he never saw beyond the +symptoms. They were to him mere isolated facts, signifying present +disorder. + +"John Morison, go to your seat," he cried. + +John went. + +"Robert Rennie, go to your seat." + +Robert went. And this continued till, six having been thus passed by, +and a seventh appearing three forms from his own, the master, who +seldom stood it so long, could stand it no longer. The _tag_ was +thrown, and a _licking_ followed, making matters a little better from +the master's point of view. + +Now I will try to give, from the scholars' side, a peep of what passed. + +As soon as he was fairly seated, Alec said in a low voice across the +double desk to one of the boys opposite, calling him by his nickname, + +"I say, Divot, do ye ken Juno?" + +"Maybe no!" answered Divot. "But gin I dinna, my left leg dis." + +"I thocht ye kent the shape o' her teeth, man. Jist gie Scrumpie there +a dig i' the ribs." + +"What are ye efter, Divot? I'll gie ye a cloot o' the lug," growled +Scrumpie. + +"Hoot man! The General wants ye." + +_The General_ was Alec's nickname. + +"What is't, General?" + +"Do ye ken Juno?" + +"Hang the bitch! I ken her ower weel. She took her denner aff o' ane o' +my hips, ae day last year." + +"Jist creep ower to Cadger there, and speir gin he kens Juno. Maybe +he's forgotten her." + +Cadger's reply was interrupted by the interference of the master, but a +pantomimic gesture conveyed to the General sufficient assurance of the +retentiveness of Cadger's memory in regard to Juno and her favours. +Such messages and replies, notwithstanding more than one licking, kept +passing the whole of the morning. + +Now Juno was an animal of the dog kind, belonging to Robert Brace. She +had the nose and the legs of a bull-dog, but was not by any means +thorough-bred, and her behaviour was worse than her breed. She was a +great favourite with her master, who ostensibly kept her chained in his +back-yard for the protection of his house and property. But she was not +by any means popular with the rising generation. For she was given to +biting, with or without provocation, and every now and then she got +loose--upon sundry of which occasions she had bitten boys. Complaint +had been made to her owner, but without avail; for he only professed +great concern, and promised she should not get loose again, which +promise had been repeatedly broken. Various vows of vengeance had been +made, and forgotten. But now Alec Forbes had taken up the cause of +humanity and justice: for the brute had bitten Annie, and _she_ could +have given no provocation. + +It was soon understood throughout the school that war was to be made +upon Juno, and that every able-bodied boy must be ready when called out +by the General. The minute they were dismissed, which, at this season +of the year, took place at three o'clock, no interval being given for +dinner, because there was hardly any afternoon, the boys gathered in a +knot at the door. + +"What are ye gaein' to do, General?" asked one. + +"Kill her," answered Alec. + +"What way?" + +"Stane her to death, loons, like the man 'at brak the Sabbath." + +"Broken banes for broken skins--eh? Ay!" + +"The damned ill-faured brute, to bite Annie Anderson!" + +"But there's nae stanes to be gotten i' the snaw, General," said +Cadger. + +"Ye gomeril! Ye'll get mair stanes nor ye'll carry, I doobt, up o' the +side o' the toll-road yonner. Naething like road-metal!" + +A confused chorus of suggestions and exclamations now arose, in the +midst of which Willie Macwha, whose cognomen was Curly-pow, came up. He +was not often the last in a conspiracy. His arrival had for the moment +a sedative effect. + +"Here's Curly! Here's Curly!" + +"Weel, is't a' sattled?" asked he. + +"She's condemned, but no execute yet," said Grumpie. + +"Hoo are we to win at her?" asked Cadger. + +"That's jist the pint," said Divot. + +"We canna weel kill her in her ain yard," suggested Houghie. + +"Na. We maun bide our time, an' tak her when she's oot aboot," said the +General. + +"But wha's to ken that? an' hoo are we to gather?" asked Cadger, who +seemed both of a practical and a despondent turn of mind. + +"Noo, jist haud yer tongues, an' hearken to me," said Alec. + +The excited assembly was instantly silent. + +"The first thing," began Alec, "is to store plenty o' ammunition." + +"Ay, ay, General." + +"Haud yer tongues.--Whaur had we best stow the stanes, Curly?" + +"In oor yard. They'll never be noticed there." + +"That'll do. Some time the nicht, ye'll a' carry what stanes ye can +get--an' min' they're o' a serviceable natur'--to Curly's yard. He'll +be o' the ootluik for ye. An,' I say, Curly, doesna your riggin-stane +owerluik the maist o' the toon?" + +"Ay, General." + +"Ye can see our hoose frae't--canna ye?" + +"Ay." + +"Weel, ye jist buy a twa three blue lichts. Hae ye ony bawbees?" + +"Deil ane, General." + +"Hae than, there's fower an' a bawbee for expenses o' the war." + +"Thank ye, General." + +"Ye hae an auld gun, haena' ye?" + +"Ay have I; but she's nearhan' the rivin'." + +"Load her to the mou', and lat her rive. We'll may be hear't. But haud +weel oot ower frae her. Ye can lay a train, ye ken." + +"I s' tak care o' that, General." + +"Scrumpie, ye bide no that far frae the draigon's den. Ye jist keep yer +ee--nae the crookit ane--upo' her ootgoins an' incomins; or raither, ye +luik efter her comin oot, an' we'll a' luik efter her gaein in again. +Jist mak a regiment o' yer ain to watch her, and bring ye word o' her +proceedins. Ye can easy luik roun the neuk o' the back-yett, an' nobody +be a hair the wiser. As sune as ever ye spy her lowse i' the yard be +aff wi' ye to Willie Macwha. Syne, Curly, ye fire yer gun, and burn the +blue lichts o' the tap o' the hoose; and gin I see or hear the signal, +I'll be ower in seven minutes an' a half. Ilka ane o' ye 'at hears, +maun luik efter the neist; and sae we'll a' gether at Curly's. Fess yer +bags for the stanes, them 'at has bags." + +"But gin ye dinna see or hear, for it's a lang road, General?" +interposed Cadger. + +"Gin I'm no at your yard, Curly, in saiven minutes an' a half, sen' +Linkum efter me. He's the only ane o' ye 'at can rin. It's a' that he +can do, but he does't weel.--Whan Juno's ance oot, she's no in a hurry +in again." + +The boys separated and went home in a state of excitement, which +probably, however, interfered very little with their appetites, seeing +it was moderated in the mean time by the need and anticipation of their +dinners. + +The sun set now between two and three o'clock, and there were long +forenights to favour the plot. Perhaps their hatred of the dog would +not have driven them to such extreme measures, even although she had +bitten Annie Anderson, had her master been a favourite, or even +generally respected. But Alec knew well enough that the townsfolk were +not likely to sympathize with Bruce on the ill-treatment of his cur. + +When the dinner and the blazing fire had filled him so full of comfort +that he was once more ready to encounter the cold, Alec could stay in +the house no longer. + +"Where are you going, Alec?" said his mother. + +"Into the garden, mamma." + +"What can you want in the garden--full of snow?" + +"It's just the snow I want, mamma. It won't keep." + +And, in another moment, he was under the clear blue night-heaven, with +the keen frosty air blowing on his warm cheek, busy with a wheelbarrow +and a spade, slicing and shovelling in the snow. He was building a hut +of it, after the fashion of the Esquimaux hut, with a very thick +circular wall, which began to lean towards its own centre as soon as it +began to rise. This hut he had pitched at the foot of a flag-staff on +the green--_lawn_ would be too grand a word for the hundred square feet +in front of his mother's house, though the grass which lay beneath the +snowy carpet was very green and lovely grass, smooth enough for any +lawn. In summer Alec had quite revelled in its greenness and softness, +as he lay on it reading the _Arabian Nights_ and the Ettrick Shepherd's +stories: now it was "white with the whiteness of what is dead;" for is +not the snow just dead water? The flag-staff he had got George Macwha +to erect for him, at a very small outlay; and he had himself fitted it +with shrouds and a cross-yard, and signal halliards; for he had always +a fancy for the sea, and boats, and rigging of all sorts. And he had a +great red flag, too, which he used to hoist on special occasions--on +market-days and such like; and often besides when a good wind blew. And +very grand it looked, as it floated in the tide of the wind. + +Often he paused in his work, and turned--and oftener without raising +himself he glanced towards the town; but no signal burned from the +ridge of Curly's house, and he went on with his labour. When called in +to tea, he gave a long wistful look townwards, but saw no sign. Out +again he went, but no blue fire rejoiced him that night with the news +that Juno was ranging the streets; and he was forced to go to bed at +last, and take refuge from his disappointment in sleep. + +The next day he strictly questioned all his officers as to the manner +in which they had fulfilled their duty, and found no just cause of +complaint. + +"In future," he said to Curly, with the importance of one who had the +affairs of boys and dogs upon his brain--so that his style rose into +English--"in future, Curly, you may always know I am at home when you +see the red flag flying from my flag-staff." + +"That's o' sma' service, General, i' the lang forenichts. A body canna +see freely so far." + +"But Linkum wad see't fleein', lang or he wan to the yett (gate)." + +"It wad flee nae mair nor a deid deuke i' this weather. It wad be +frozen as stiff's a buird." + +"Ye gowk! Do ye think fowk wash their flags afore they hing them oot, +like sarks or sheets? Dinna ye be ower clever, Curly, my man." + +Whereupon Curly shut up. + +****** + +"What are you in such a state about, Alec?" asked his mother. + +"Nothing very particular, mamma," answered Alec, ashamed of his want of +self-command. + +"You've looked out at the window twenty times in the last half-hour," +she persisted. + +"Curly promised to burn a blue light, and I wanted to see if I could +see it." + +Suspecting more, his mother was forced to be content with this answer. + +But that night was also passed without sight or sound. Juno kept safe +in her barrel, little thinking of the machinations against her in the +wide snow-covered country around. Alec finished the Esquimaux hut, and +the snow falling all night, the hut looked the next morning as if it +had been there all the winter. As it seemed likely that a long spell of +white weather had set in, Alec resolved to extend his original plan, +and carry a long snow passage, or covered vault, from the +lattice-window of a small closet, almost on a level with the ground, to +this retreat by the flag-staff. He was hard at work in the execution of +this project, on the third night, or rather late afternoon: they called +it _forenight_ there. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +"What can that be, mem, awa ower the toon there?" said Mary to her +mistress, as in passing she peeped out of the window, the blind of +which Alec had drawn up behind the curtain. + +"What is it, Mary?" + +"That's jist what I dinna ken, mem. It canna be the rory-bories, as +Alec ca's them. It's ower blue.--It's oot.--It's in agin.--It's no +canny.--And, preserves a'! it's crackin' as weel," cried Mary, as the +subdued sound of a far-off explosion reached her. + +This was of course no other than the roar of Curly's gun in the act of +bursting and vanishing; for neither stock, lock, nor barrel was ever +seen again. It left the world like a Norse king on his fire-ship. But, +at the moment, Alec was too busy in the depths of his snow-vault to +hear or see the signals. + +By-and-by a knock came to the kitchen door, Mary went and opened it. + +"Alec's at hame, I ken," said a rosy boy, almost breathless with past +speed and present excitement. + +"Hoo ken ye that, my man?" asked Mary. + +"'Cause the flag's fleein'. Whaur is he?" + +"Gin ye ken sae muckle aboot him already, ye can jist fin' him to +yersel'!" + +"The bick's oot!" panted Linkum. + +But Mary shut the door. + +"Here's a job!" said Linkum to himself. "I canna gang throu a steekit +door. And there's Juno wi' the rin o' the haill toun. Deil tak her!" + +But at the moment he heard Alec whistling a favourite tune, as he +shovelled away at the snow. + +"General!" cried Linkum, in ecstasy. + +"Here!" answered Alec, flinging his spade twenty feet from him, and +bolting in the direction of the call. "Is't you, Linkum?" + +"She's oot, General." + +"Deil hae her, gin ever she wins in again, the curst worryin' brute! +Did ye gang to Curly?" + +"Ay did I. He fired the gun, and brunt three blue lichts, and waited +seven minutes and a half; and syne he sent me for ye, General." + +"_Con_foon' 't," cried Alec, and tore through shrubbery and hedge, the +nearest way to the road, followed by Linkum, who even at full speed was +not a match for Alec. Away they flew like the wind, along the +well-beaten path to the town, over the footbridge that crossed the +Glamour, and full speed up the hill to Willie Macwha, who, with a dozen +or fifteen more, was anxiously waiting for the commander. They all had +their book-bags, pockets, and arms filled with stones lately broken for +mending the turnpike road, mostly granite, but partly whinstone and +flint. One bag was ready filled for Alec. + +"Noo," said the General, in the tone of Gideon of old, "gin ony o' ye +be fleyt at the brute, jist gang hame." + +"Ay! ay! General." + +But nobody stirred, for those who were afraid had slunk away the moment +they saw Alec coming up the hill, like the avenger of blood. + +"Wha's watchin' her?" + +"Doddles, Gapy, and Goat." + +"Whaur was she last seen?" + +"Takin' up wi' anither tyke on the squaure." + +"Doddles 'll be at the pump, to tell whaur's the ither twa and the +tyke." + +"Come along, then. This is hoo ye're to gang. We maunna a' gang +thegither. Some o' ye--you three--doon the Back Wynd; you sax, up Lucky +Hunter's Close; and the lave by Gowan Street; an' first at the pump +bides for the lave." + +"Hoo are we to mak the attack, General?" + +"I'll gie my orders as the case may demand," said Alec. + +And away they shot. + +The muffled sounds of the feet of the various companies as they +thundered past upon the snow, roused the old wives dozing over their +knitting by their fires of spent oak-bark; and according to her temper +would be the remark with which each startled dame turned again to her +former busy quiescence:--"Some mischeef o' the loons!" "Some ploy o' +the laddies!" "Some deevilry o' thae rascals frae Malison's school!" + +They reached the square almost together, and found Doddles at the pump; +who reported that Juno had gone down the inn-yard, and Gapey and Goat +were watching her. Now she must come out to get home again, for there +was no back-way; so by Alec's orders they dispersed a little to avoid +observation, and drew gradually between the entrance of the inn-yard, +and the way Juno would take to go home. + +The town was ordinarily lighted at night with oil lamps, but moonlight +and snow had rendered them for some time unnecessary. + +"Here she is! Here she is!" cried several at once in a hissing whisper +of excitement. "Lat at her!" + +"Haud still!" cried Alec. "Bide till I tell ye. Dinna ye see there's +Lang Tam's dog wi' her, an' he's done naething. Ye maunna punish the +innocent wi' the guilty." + +A moment after the dogs took their leave of each other, and Juno went, +at a slow slouching trot, in the direction of her own street. + +"Close in!" cried Alec. + +Juno found her way barred in a threatening manner, and sought to pass +meekly by. + +"Lat at her, boys!" cried the General. + +A storm of stones was their answer to the order; and a howl of rage and +pain burst from the animal. She turned; but found that she was the +centre of a circle of enemies. + +"Lat at her! Haud at her!" bawled Alec. + +And thick as hail the well-aimed stones flew from practised hands; +though of course in the frantic rushes of the dog to escape, not half +of them took effect. She darted first at one and then at another, +snapping wildly, and meeting with many a kick and blow in return. + +The neighbours began to look out at their shop-doors and their windows; +for the boys, rapt in the excitement of the sport, no longer laid any +restraint upon their cries. Andrew Constable, the clothier, from his +shop-door; Rob Guddle, the barber, from his window, with his face +shadowed by Annie's curls; Redford, the bookseller, from the top of the +stairs that led to his shop; in short, the whole of the shopkeepers on +the square of Glamerton were regarding this battle of odds. The +half-frozen place looked half-alive. But none of the good folks cared +much to interfere, for flying stones are not pleasant to encounter. And +indeed they could not clearly make out what was the matter.--In a +minute more, a sudden lull came over the hubbub. They saw all the group +gather together in a murmuring knot. + +The fact was this. Although cowardly enough now, the brute, infuriated +with pain, had made a determined rush at one of her antagonists, and a +short hand-to-teeth struggle was now taking place, during which the +stoning ceased. + +"She has a grip o' my leg," said Alec quietly; "and I hae a grip o' her +throat. Curly, pit yer han' i' my jacket-pooch, an' tak' oot a bit +towie ye'll fin' there." + +Curly did as he was desired, and drew out a yard and a half of +garden-line. + +"Jist pit it wi' ae single k-not roon' her neck, an' twa three o' ye +tak' a haud at ilka en', and pu' for the life o' ye!" + +They hauled with hearty vigour, Juno's teeth relaxed their hold of +Alec's calf; in another minute her tongue was hanging out her mouth, +and when they ceased the strain she lay limp on the snow. With a shout +of triumph, they started off at full speed, dragging the brute by the +neck through the street. Alec essayed to follow them; but found his leg +too painful; and was forced to go limping home. + +When the victors had run till they were out of breath, they stopped to +confer; and the result of their conference was that in solemn silence +they drew her home to the back gate, and finding all still in the yard, +deputed two of their company to lay the dead body in its kennel. + +Curly and Linkum drew her into the yard, tumbled her into her barrel, +which they set up on end, undid the string, and left Juno lying neck +and tail together in ignominious peace. + +"Before Alec reached home his leg had swollen very much, and was so +painful that he could hardly limp along; for Juno had taken no passing +snap, but a great strong mouthful. He concealed his condition from his +mother for that night; but next morning his leg was so bad, that there +was no longer a possibility of hiding the fact. To tell a lie would +have been so hard for Alec, that he had scarcely any merit in not +telling one. So there was nothing for it but confession. His mother +scolded him to a degree considerably beyond her own sense of the wrong, +telling him he would get her into disgrace in the town as the mother of +a lawless son, who meddled with other people's property in a way little +better than stealing. + +"I fancy, mamma, a loun's legs are aboot as muckle his ain property as +the tyke was Rob Bruce's. It's no the first time she's bitten half a +dizzen legs that were neither her ain nor her maister's." + +Mrs Forbes could not well answer this argument; so she took advantage +of the fact that Alec had, in the excitement of self-defence, lapsed +into Scotch. + +"Don't talk so vulgarly to me, Alec," she said; "keep that for your +ill-behaved companions in the town." + +"They are no worse than I am, mamma. _I_ was at the bottom of it." + +"I never said they were," she answered. + +But in her heart she thought if they were not, there was little amiss +with them. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +Alec was once more condemned to the sofa, and Annie had to miss him, +and wonder what had become of him. She always felt safe when Alec was +there, and when he was not she grew timid; although whole days would +sometimes pass without either speaking to the other. But before the +morning was over she learned the reason of his absence. + +For about noon, when all was tolerably harmonious in the school, the +door opened, and the face of Robert Bruce appeared, with gleaming eyes +of wrath. + +"Guid preserve's!" said Scrumpie to his next neighbour. "Sic a hidin' +as we s' a' get! Here's Rob Bruce! Wha's gane and tell't him?" + +But some of the gang of conspirators, standing in a class near the +door, stared in horror. Amongst them was Curly. His companions declared +afterwards that had it not been for the strength of the curl, his hair +would have stood upright. For, following Bruce, led in fact by a +string, came an awful apparition--Juno herself, a pitiable mass of +caninity--looking like the resuscitated corpse of a dog that had been +nine days buried, crowded with lumps, and speckled with cuts, going on +three legs, and having her head and throat swollen to a size past +recognition. + +"She's no deid efter a'! Deil tak' her! for he's in her," said Doddles. + +"We haena killed her eneuch," said Curly. + +"I tell't ye, Curly! Ye had little ado to lowse the tow. She wad ha' +been as deid afore the mornin' as Lucky Gordon's cat that ye cuttit the +heid aff o'," said Linkum. + +"Eh! but she luiks bonnie!" said Curly, trying to shake off his dismay. +"Man, we'll hae't a' to do ower again. Sic fun!" + +But he could not help looking a little rueful when Linkum expressed a +wish that they were themselves well through with their share of the +killing. + +And now the storm began to break. The master had gone to the door and +shaken hands with his visitor, glancing a puzzled interrogation at the +miserable animal in the string, which had just shape enough left to +show that it was a dog. + +"I'm verra sorry, Maister Malison, to come to you wi' my complaints," +said Bruce; "but jist luik at the puir dumb animal! She cudna come +hersel', an' sae I bude to bring her. Stan' still, ye brute!" + +For Juno having caught sight of some boy-legs, through a corner of one +eye not quite _bunged up_, began to tug at the string with feeble +earnestness--no longer, however, regarding the said legs as made for +dogs to bite, but as fearful instruments of vengeance, in league with +stones and cords. So the straining and pulling was all homewards. But +her master had brought her as chief witness against the boys, and she +must remain where she was. + +"Eh, lass!" he said, hauling her back by the string; "gin ye had but +the tongue o' the prophet's ass, ye wad sune pint out the rascals that +misguided and misgrugled ye that gait. But here's the just judge +that'll gie ye yer richts, and that wi'oot fee or reward.--Mr Malison, +she was ane o' the bonniest bicks ye cud set yer ee upo'--" + +A smothered laugh gurgled through the room. + +--"till some o' your loons--nae offence, sir--I ken weel eneuch they're +no yours, nor a bit like ye--some o' your peowpils, sir, hae jist ca'd +(driven) the sowl oot o' her wi' stanes." + +"Whaur does the sowl o' a bitch bide?" asked Goat, in a whisper, of his +neighbour. + +"De'il kens," answered Gapey; "gin it binna i' the boddom o' Rob +Bruce's wame." + +The master's wrath, ready enough to rise against boys and all their +works, now showed itself in the growing redness of his face. This was +not one of his worst passions--in them, he grew white--for the injury +had not been done to himself. + +"Can you tell me which of them did it?" + +"No, sir. There maun hae been mair nor twa or three at it, or she wad +hae worried them. The best-natered beast i' the toon!" + +"William Macwha," cried Malison. + +"Here, sir." + +"Come up." + +Willie ascended to the august presence. He had made up his mind that, +seeing so many had known all about it, and some of them had turned +cowards, it would be of no service to deny the deed. + +"Do you know anything about this cruelty to the poor dog, William?" +said the master. + +Willie gave a Scotchman's answer, which, while evasive, was yet answer +and more. + +"She bet me, sir." + +"When? While you were stoning her?" + +"No, sir. A month ago." + +"Ye're a leein' vratch, Willie Macwha, as ye weel ken i' yer ain +conscience!" cried Bruce. "She's the quaietest, kin'list beast 'at ever +was wholpit. See, sir; jist luik ye here. She'll lat me pit my han' in +her mou', an' tak' no more notice nor gin it was her ain tongue." + +Now whether it was that the said tongue was still swollen and painful, +or that Juno, conscious of her own ill deserts, disapproved of the +whole proceeding, I cannot tell; but the result of this proof of her +temper was that she made her teeth meet through Bruce's hand. + +"Damn the bitch!" he roared, snatching it away with the blood beginning +to flow. + +A laugh, not smothered this time, billowed and broke through the whole +school; for the fact that Bruce should be caught swearing, added to the +yet more delightful fact that Juno had bitten her master, was +altogether too much. + +"Eh! isna't weel we didna kill her efter a'?" said Curly. + +"Guid doggie!" said another, patting his own knee, as if to entice her +to come and be caressed. + +"At him again, Juno!" said a third. + +"I'll gie her a piece the neist time I see her," said Curly. + +Bruce, writhing with pain, and mortified at the result of his ocular +proof of Juno's incapability of biting, still more mortified at having +so far forgotten himself as to utter an oath, and altogether +discomfited by the laughter, turned away in confusion. + +"It's a' their wyte, the baad boys! She never did the like afore. They +hae ruined her temper," he said, as he left the school, following Juno, +which was tugging away at the string as if she had been a blind man's +dog. + +"Well, what have you to say for yourself, William?" said Malison. + +"She began 't, sir." + +This best of excuses would not, however, satisfy the master. The +punishing mania had possibly taken fresh hold upon him. But he would +put more questions first. + +"Who besides you tortured the poor animal?" + +Curly was silent. He had neither a very high sense of honour, nor any +principles to come and go upon; but he had a considerable amount of +devotion to his party, which is the highest form of conscience to be +found in many. + +"Tell me their names, sir?" + +Curly was still silent. + +But a white-headed urchin, whom innumerable whippings, not bribes, had +corrupted, cried out in a wavering voice: + +"Sanny Forbes was ane o' them; an' he's no here, 'cause Juno worried +him." + +The poor creature gained little by his treachery; for the smallest of +the conspirators fell on him when school was over, and gave him a +thrashing, which he deserved more than ever one of Malison's. + +But the effect of Alec's name on the master was talismanic. He changed +his manner at once, sent Curly to his seat, and nothing more was heard +of Juno or her master. + +The opposite neighbours stared across, the next morning, in bewildered +astonishment, at the place where the shop of Robert Bruce had been wont +to invite the public to enter and buy. Had it been possible for an +avalanche to fall like a thunderbolt from the heavens, they would have +supposed that one had fallen in the night, and overwhelmed the house. +Door and windows were invisible, buried with the rude pavement in front +beneath a mass of snow. Spades and shovels in boys' hands had been busy +for hours during the night, throwing it up against the house, the door +having first been blocked up with a huge ball, which they had rolled in +silence the whole length of the long street. + +Bruce and his wife slept in a little room immediately behind the shop, +that they might watch over their treasures; and Bruce's first movement +in the morning was always into the shop to unbolt the door and take +down the shutters. His astonishment when he looked upon a blank wall of +snow may be imagined. He did not question that the whole town was +similarly overwhelmed. Such a snow-storm had never been heard of +before, and he thought with uneasy recollection of the oath he had +uttered in the school-room; imagining for a moment that the whole of +Glamerton lay overwhelmed by the divine wrath, because he had, under +the agony of a bite from his own dog, consigned her to a quarter where +dogs and children are not admitted. In his bewilderment, he called +aloud: + +"Nancy! Robbie! Johnnie! We're a' beeriet alive!" + +"Preserve's a', Robert! what's happent?" cried his wife, rushing from +the kitchen. + +"I'm no beeriet, that I ken o'," cried Robert the younger, entering +from the yard. + +His father rushed to the back-door, and, to his astonishment and +relief, saw the whole world about him. It was a private judgment, then, +upon him and his shop. And so it was--a very private judgment. Probably +it was the result of his meditations upon it, that he never after +carried complaints to Murdoch Malison. + +Alec Forbes had nothing to do with this revenge. But Bruce always +thought he was at the bottom of it, and hated him the more. He disliked +all _loons_ but his own; for was not the spirit of _loons_ the very +antipodes to that of money-making? But Alec Forbes he hated, for he was +the very antipode to Robert Bruce himself. Mrs Bruce always followed +her husband's lead, being capable only of two devotions--the one to her +husband and children, the other to the shop.--Of Annie they highly and +righteously disapproved, partly because they had to feed her, and +partly because she was friendly with Alec. This disapproval rose into +dislike after their sons had told them that it was because Juno had +bitten her that the boys of the school, with Alec for a leader, had +served her as they had. But it was productive of no disadvantage to +her; for it could not take any active form because of the money-bond +between them, while its negative operation gave rise chiefly to +neglect, and so left her more at liberty, to enjoy herself as she could +after her own fashion. + +For the rest of Juno's existence, the moment she caught sight of a boy +she fled as fast as her four bow-legs would carry her, not daring even +to let her tail stick out behind her, lest it should afford a handle +against her. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +When Annie heard that Alec had been bitten she was miserable. She knew +his bite must be worse than hers, or he would not be kept at home. +Might she not venture to go and see him again? The modesty of a +maidenly child made her fear to intrude; but she could not constrain +her feet from following the path to his house. And as it was very dusk, +what harm could there be in going just inside the gate, and on to the +green? Through the parlour windows she saw the fire burning bright, and +a shadow moving across the walls and the ceiling; but she could not +make up her mind to knock at the door, for she was afraid of Mrs +Forbes, notwithstanding her kindness. So she wandered on--for here +there was no dog--wondering what that curious long mound of snow, with +the round heap at the end, by the flag-staff, could be? What could Alec +have made it for? Examining it closely all along, she came to the end +of it next the house, and looking round, saw that it was hollow. +Without a moment's thought, for she had no fear of Alec, she entered. +The passage was dark, but she groped her way, on and on, till she came +to the cell at the end. Here a faint ghostly light glimmered; for Alec +had cleared a small funnel upwards through the roof, almost to the +outside, so that a thin light filtered through a film of snow. This +light being reflected from the white surface of the cave, showed it all +throbbing about her with a faint bluish white, ever and anon whelmed in +the darkness and again glimmering out through its folds. She seated +herself on a ledge of snow that ran all round the foundation. It was +not so cold here as in the outer air, where a light frosty wind was +blowing across the world of snow. And she had not sat long, before, +according to her custom when left to herself, she fell fast asleep. + +Meantime Alec, his mother having gone to the town, was sitting alone, +finishing, by the light of the fire, the last of a story. At length the +dreariness of an ended tale was about him, and he felt the inactivity +to which he had been compelled all day no longer tolerable. He would go +and see how his snow-chamber looked by candlelight. His mother had told +him not to go out; but that, he reasoned, could hardly be called going +out, when there was not more than a yard of open air to cross. So he +got a candle, was out of the window in a moment, notwithstanding his +lameness, and crept through the long vault of snow towards the inmost +recess. As he approached the end he started. Could he believe his eyes? +A figure was there--motionless--dead perhaps. He went on--he went +in--and there he saw Annie, leaning against the white wall, with her +white face turned up to the frozen ceiling. She might have been the +frost-queen, the spirit that made the snow, and built the hut, and +dwelt in it; for all the powers that vivify nature must be children. +The popular imagination seems to have caught this truth, for all the +fairies and gnomes and goblins, yes, the great giants too, are only +different sizes, shapes, and characters of children. But I have +wandered from Alec's thoughts into my own. He knew it was Annie, and no +strange creature of the elements. And if he had not come, she might +have slept on till her sleep was too deep for any voice of the world to +rouse her. + +It was, even then, with difficulty that he woke her. He took hold of +her hands, but she did not move. He sat down, took her in his arms, +spoke to her--got frightened and shook her, but she would not open her +eyes. Her long dark eyelashes sloped still upon her white cheek, like +the low branches of a cedar upon the lawn at its foot. But he knew she +was not dead yet, for he could feel her heart beating. At length she +lifted her eyelids, looked up in his face, gave a low happy laugh, like +the laugh of a dreaming child, and was fast asleep again in a moment. + +Alec hesitated no longer. He rose with her in his arms, carried her +into the parlour, and laid her down on the rug before the fire, with a +sofa-pillow under her head. There she might have her sleep out. When +Mrs Forbes came home she found Alec reading, and Annie sleeping by the +fireside. Before his mother had recovered from her surprise, and while +she was yet staring at the lovely little apparition, Alec had the first +word. + +"Mamma!" he said, "I found her sleeping in my snow hut there; and if I +had not brought her in, she would have been dead by this time." + +"Poor little darling!" thought Mrs Forbes; but she was Scotch, and +therefore she did not say it. But she stooped, and drew the child back +from the fire, lest she should have her face scorched, and after making +the tea, proceeded to put off her bonnet and shawl. By the time she had +got rid of them, Annie was beginning to move, and Alec rose to go to +her. + +"Let her alone," said his mother. "Let her come to herself by degrees. +Come to the table." + +Alec obeyed. They could see that Annie had opened her eyes, and lay +staring at the fire. What was she thinking about? She had fallen asleep +in the snow-hut, and here she was by a bright fire! + +"Annie, dear, come to your tea," were the first words she heard. She +rose and went, and sat down at the table with a smile, taking it all as +the gift of God, or a good dream, and never asking how she had come to +be so happy. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +The spirit of mischief had never been so thoroughly aroused in the +youth of Glamerton as it was this winter. The snow lay very deep, while +almost every day a fresh fall added to its depth, and this rendered +some of their winter-amusements impossible; while not many of them had +the imagination of Alec Forbes to suggest new ones. At the same time +the cold increased, and strengthened their impulses to muscular +exertion. + +"Thae loons are jist growin' perfect deevils," said Charlie Chapman, +the wool-carder, as he bolted into his own shop, with the remains of a +snowball melting down the back of his neck. "We maun hae anither +constable to haud them in order." + +The existing force was composed of one long-legged, short-bodied, +middle-aged man, who was so slow in his motions, apparently from the +weight of his feet, which were always dragging behind him, that the +boys called him Stumpin' Steenie (dim. for "Stephen"), and stood in no +more awe of him than they did of his old cow--which, her owner being a +widower, they called _Mrs Stephen_--when she went up the street, hardly +able to waddle along for the weight of her udder. So there was some +little ground for the wool-carder's remark. How much a second constable +would have availed, however, is doubtful. + +"I never saw sic widdiefows!" (gallows-birds), chimed in a farmer's +wife who was standing in the shop. "They had a tow across the Wast Wynd +i' the snaw, an' doon I cam o' my niz, as sure's your name's Charles +Chapman--and mair o' my legs oot o' my coats, I doobt, than was +a'thegither to my credit." + +"I'm sure ye can hae no rizzon to tak' shame o' your legs, gude wife," +was the gallant rejoinder; to which their owner replied, with a laugh: + +"They warna made for public inspection, ony gait." + +"Hoot! hoot! Naebody saw them. I s' warran' ye didna lie lang! But thae +loons--they're jist past a'! Heard ye hoo they saired Rob Bruce?" + +"Fegs! they tell me they a' but buried him alive." + +"Ow! ay. But it's a later story, the last." + +"It's a pity there's no a dizzen or twa o' them in Awbrahawm's +boasom.--What did they till him neist?" + +Here Andrew Constable dropped in, and Chapman turned towards him with +the question: + +"Did _ye_ hear, Mr Constable, what the loons did to Robert Bruce the +nicht afore last?" + +"No. What was that? They hae a spite at puir Rob, I believe." + +"Weel, it didna look a'thegither like respeck, I maun alloo.--I was +stannin' at the coonter o' his shop waitin' for an unce o' sneeshin'; +and Robert he was servin' a bit bairnie ower the coouter wi' a +pennyworth o' triacle, when, in a jiffey, there cam' sic a blast, an' a +reek fit to smore ye, oot o' the bit fire, an' the shop was fu' o' +reek, afore ye could hae pitten the pint o' ae thoom upo' the pint o' +the ither. 'Preserve's a'!' cried Rob; but or he could say anither +word, butt the house, scushlin in her bauchles, comes Nancy, rinnin', +an' opens the door wi' a scraich: 'Preserve's a'!' quo' she, 'Robert, +the lum's in a low!' An' fegs! atween the twa reeks, to sunder them, +there was nothing but Nancy hersel. The hoose was as fu' as it cud +haud, frae cellar to garret, o' the blackest reek 'at ever crap oot o' +coal. Oot we ran, an' it was a sicht to see the crater wi' his lang +neck luikin' up at the chimleys. But deil a spark cam' oot o' them--or +reek either, for that maitter. It was easy to see what was amiss. The +loons had been o' the riggin, and flung a han'fu' o' blastin' powther +down ilka smokin' chimley, and syne clappit a divot or a truf upo' the +mou' o' 't. Deil ane o' them was in sicht, but I doobt gin ony o' them +was far awa'. There was naething for't but get a ladder, and jist gang +up an' tak aff the pot-lids. But eh! puir Robert was jist rampin' wi' +rage! No 'at he said muckle, for he daur hardly open his mou' for +sweerin'; and Robert wadna sweer, ye ken; but he was neither to haud +nor bin'." + +"What laddies war they, Charles, do ye ken?" asked Andrew. + +"There's a heap o' them up to tricks. Gin I haena the rheumateese +screwin' awa' atween my shoothers the nicht it wonna be their fau'ts; +for as I cam' ower frae the ironmonger's there, I jist got a ba' i' the +how o' my neck, 'at amaist sent me howkin' wi' my snoot i' the snaw. +And there it stack, and at this preceese moment it's rinnin' doon the +sma' o' my back as gin 't war a burnie doon a hillside. We maun hae +mair constables!" + +"Hoot! toot! Charles. Ye dinna want a constable to dry yer back. Gang +to the gudewife wi' 't," said Andrew, "she'll gie ye a dry sark. Na, +na. Lat the laddies work it aff. As lang's they haud their han's frae +what doesna belang to them, I dinna min' a bit ploy noo and than. +They'll noo turn oot the waur men for a pliskie or twa." + +The fact was, none of the boys would have dreamed of interfering with +Andrew Constable. Everybody respected him; not because he was an elder +of the kirk, but because he was a good-tempered, kindly, honest man; or +to sum up all in one word--_a douce chield_--by which word _douce_ is +indicated every sort of propriety of behaviour--a virtue greatly +esteemed by the Scotch. This adjective was universally applied to +Andrew. + +While Alec was confined to the house, he had been busy inventing all +kinds of employments for the period of the snow. His lessons never +occupied much of his thoughts, and no pains having yet been taken to +discover in what direction his tastes inclined him, he had of course to +cater for himself. The first day of his return, when school was over, +he set off rejoicing in his freedom, for a ramble through the snow, +still revolving what he was to do next; for he wanted some steady +employment with an end in view. In the course of his solitary walk, he +came to the Wan Water, the other river that flowed through the wide +valley--and wan enough it was now with its snow-sheet over it! As he +stood looking at its still, dead face, and lamenting that the snow lay +too deep over the ice to admit of skating, by a sudden reaction, a +summer-vision of the live water arose before him; and he thought how +delightful it would be to go sailing down the sparkling ripples, with +the green fields all about him, and the hot afternoon sun over his +head. That would be better even than scudding along it on his skates. +His next thought was at once an idea and a resolve. Why should he not +build a boat? He _would_ build a boat. He would set about it +directly.--Here was work for the rest of the winter! + +His first step must be to go home and have his dinner; his next--to +consult George Macwha, who had been a ship-carpenter in his youth. He +would run over in the evening before George should have dropped work, +and commit the plan to his judgment. + +In the evening, then, Alec reached the town, on his way to George +Macwha. It was a still lovely night, clear and frosty, with--yes, there +were--millions of stars overhead. Away in the north, the streamers were +shooting hither and thither, with marvellous evanescence and +re-generation. No dance of goblins could be more lawless in its +grotesqueness than this dance of the northern lights in their ethereal +beauty, shining, with a wild ghostly changefulness and feebleness, all +colours at once; now here, now there, like a row of slender +organ-pipes, rolling out and in and along the sky. Or they might have +been the chords of some gigantic stringed instrument, which chords +became visible only when mighty hands of music struck their keys and +set them vibrating; so that, as the hands swept up and down the Titanic +key-board, the chords themselves seemed to roll along the heavens, +though in truth some vanished here and others appeared yonder. Up and +down they darted, and away and back--and always in the direction he did +not expect them to take. He thought he heard them crackle, and he stood +still to listen; but he could not be sure that it was not the snow +sinking and _crisping_ beneath his feet. All around him was still as a +world too long frozen: in the heavens alone was there motion. There +this entrancing dance of colour and shape went on, wide beneath, and +tapering up to the zenith! Truly there was revelry in heaven! One might +have thought that a prodigal son had just got home, and that the music +and the dancing had begun, of which only the far-off rhythmic shine +could reach the human sense; for a dance in heaven might well show +itself in colour to the eyes of men.--Alec went on till the lights from +the windows of the town began to throw shadows across the snow. The +street was empty. From end to end nothing moved but an occasional +shadow. As he came near to Macwha's shop, he had to pass a row of +cottages which stood with their backs to a steep slope. Here too all +was silent as a frozen city. But when he was about opposite the middle +of the row, he heard a stifled laugh, and then a kind of muffled sound +as of hurrying steps, and, in a moment after, every door in the row was +torn open, and out bolted the inhabitants--here an old woman, halting +on a stick as she came, there a shoemaker, with last and awl in his +hands, here a tailor with his shears, and there a whole family of +several trades and ages. Every one rushed into the middle of the road, +turned right round and looked up. Then arose such a clamour of tongues, +that it broke on the still air like a storm. + +"What's ado, Betty?" asked Alec of a decrepit old creature, bent almost +double with rheumatism, who was trying hard to see something or other +in the air or on the roof of her cottage. + +But before she could speak, the answer came in another form, addressing +itself to his nose instead of his ears. For out of the cottages floated +clouds of smoke, pervading the air with a variety of scents--of burning +oak-bark, of burning leather-cuttings, of damp fire-wood and peat, of +the cooking of red herrings, of the boiling of porridge, of the baking +of oat-cake, &c., &c. Happily for all the inhabitants, "thae deevils o' +loons" had used no powder here. + +But the old woman, looking round when Alec spoke, and seeing that he +was one of the obnoxious school-boys, broke out thus: + +"Gang an' tak the divot (turf) aff o' my lum, Alec, there's a good +laad! Ye sudna play sic tricks on puir auld bodies like me, near +brackin' in twa wi' the rheumateeze. I'm jist greetin' wi' the reek i' +my auld een." + +And as she spoke she wiped her eyes with her apron. + +Alec did not wait to clear himself of an accusation so gently put, but +was on the roof of Luckie Lapp's cottage before she had finished her +appeal to his generosity. He took the "divot aff o' her lum" and +pitched it half way down the brae, at the back of the cottage. Then he +scrambled from one chimney to the other, and went on pitching the sods +down the hill. At length two of the inhabitants, who had climbed up at +the other end of the row, met him, and taking him for a repentant +sinner at best, made him prisoner, much to his amusement, and brought +him down, protesting that it was too bad of gentle-folk's sons to +persecute the poor in that way. + +"I didn't do it," said Alec. + +"Dinna lee," was the curt rejoinder. + +"I'm no leein'." + +"Wha did it, than?" + +"I can guiss; an' it shanna happen again, gin I can help it." + +"Tell's wha did it, than." + +"I wonno say names." + +"He's ane o' them." + +"The foul thief tak him! I s' gie him a hidin'," said a burly sutor +(shoemaker) coming up. "Thae loons are no to be borne wi' ony langer." + +And he caught Alec by the arm. + +"I didn't do it," persisted Alec. + +"Wha killed Rob Bruce's dog?" asked the sutor, squeezing Alec's arm to +point the question. + +"I did," answered Alec; "and I will do yours the same guid turn, gin he +worries bairns." + +"And quite richt, too!" said the sutor's wife. "Lat him gang, Donal. +I'll be boun' he's no ane o' them." + +"Tell's a' aboot it, than. Hoo cam ye up there?" + +"I gaed up to tak the divot aff o' Lucky Lapp's lum. Spier at her. Ance +up I thocht I micht gie the lave o' ye a gude turn, and this is a' I +get for't." + +"Weel, weel! Come in and warm ye, than," said the shoemaker, convinced +at last. + +So Alec went in and had a chat with them, and then went on to George +Macwha's. + +The carpenter took to his scheme at once. Alec was a fair hand at all +sorts of tool-work; and being on the friendliest terms with Macwha, it +was soon arranged that the keel should be laid in the end of the +workshop, and that, under George's directions, and what help Willie +chose to render, Alec should build his boat himself. Just as they +concluded these preliminaries, in came Willie, wiping some traces of +blood from his nose. He made a pantomimic gesture of vengeance at Alec. + +"What hae ye been efter noo, laddie?" asked his father. + +"Alec's jist gien me a bluidy nose," said Willie. + +"Hoo cam' that aboot? Ye weel deserved it, I hae nae doobt. Jist gie +him anither whan he wants it, Alec." + +"What do ye mean, Curly?" asked Alec in amazement. + +"Yon divot 'at ye flang aff o' Luckie Lapp's riggin'," said Curly, +"cam' richt o' the back o' my heid, as I lay o' the brae, and dang the +blude oot at my niz. That's a'.--Ye'll preten' ye didna see me, nae +doobt." + +"I say, Curly," said Alec, putting his arm round his shoulders, and +leading him aside, "we maun hae nae mair o' this kin' o' wark. It's a +dam't shame! Do ye see nae differ atween chokin' an ill-faured tyke an' +chokin' a puir widow's lum?" + +"'Twas only for fun." + +"It's ill fun that baith sides canna lauch at, Curly." + +"Rob Bruce wasna lauchin' whan he brocht the bick to the schuil, nor +yet whan he gaed hame again." + +"That was nae fun, Curly. That was doonricht earnest." + +"Weel, weel, Alec; say nae mair aboot it." + +"No more I will. But gin I was you, Curly, I wad tak Lucky a seck o' +spales the morn." + +"I'll tak them the nicht, Alec.--Father, hae ye an auld seck ony gait?" + +"There's ane up i' the laft. What want ye wi' a seck?" + +But Curly was in the loft almost before the question had left his +father's lips. He was down again in a moment, and on his knees filling +the sack with shavings and all the chips he could find. + +"Gie's a han' up wi't, Alec," he said. + +And in a moment more Curly was off to Widow Lapp with his bag of +firing. + +"He's a fine chield that Willie o' yours, George," said Alec to the +father. "He only wants to hae a thing weel pitten afore him, an' he +jist acts upo' 't direckly. + +"It's weel he maks a cronie o' you, Alec. There's a heap o' mischeef in +him. Whaur's he aff wi thae spells?" + +Alec told the story, much to the satisfaction of George, who could +appreciate the repentance of his son; although he was "nane o' the unco +guid" himself. From that day he thought more of his son, and of Alec as +well. + +"Noo, Curly," said Alec, as soon as he re-appeared with the empty sack, +"yer father's gaein to lat me big a boat, an' ye maun help me." + +"What's the use o' a boat i' this weather?" said Curly. + +"Ye gomeril!" returned his father; ye never luik an inch afore the pint +o' yer ain neb. Ye wadna think o' a boat afore the spring; an' haith! +the summer wad be ower, an' the water frozen again, afore ye had it +biggit. Luik at Alec there. He's worth ten o' you. + +"I ken that ilka bit as weel's ye do, father. Jist set's aff wi' 't, +father." + +"I canna attend till't jist i' the noo; but I s' set ye aff wi' 't the +morn's nicht." + +So here was an end to the troubles of the townsfolks from the _loons_, +and without any increase of the constabulary force; for Curly being +withdrawn, there was no one else of sufficiently inventive energy to +take the lead, and the loons ceased to be dangerous to the peace of the +community. Curly soon had both his head and his hands quite occupied +with boat-building. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +Every afternoon, now, the moment dinner was over, Alec set off for the +workshop, and did not return till eight o'clock, or sometimes later. +Mrs Forbes did not at all relish this change in his habits; but she had +the good sense not to interfere. + +One day he persuaded her to go with him, and see how the boat was +getting on. This enticed her into some sympathy with his new pursuit. +For there was the boat--a skeleton it is true, and not nearly ready yet +for the clothing of its planks, or its final skin of paint--yet an +undeniable boat to the motherly eye of hope. And there were Alec and +Willie working away before her eyes, doing their best to fulfil the +promise of its looks. A little quiet chat she had with George Macwha, +in which he poured forth the praises of her boy, did not a little, as +well, to reconcile her to his desertion of her. + +"Deed, mem," said George, whose acquaintance with Scripture was neither +extensive nor precise, "to my mind he's jist a fulfilment o' the +prophecee, 'An auld heid upo' young shouthers;' though I canna richtly +min' whilk o' the lesser prophets it is that conteens 't." + +But Mrs Forbes never saw a little figure, lying in a corner, +half-buried in wood-shavings, and utterly unconscious of her presence, +being fast asleep. + +This was, of course, Annie Anderson, who having heard of the new +occupation of her hero, had, one afternoon, three weeks before Mrs +Forbes's visit, found herself at George's shop door, she hardly knew +how. It seemed to her that she had followed her feet, and they had +taken her there before she knew where they were going. Peeping in, she +watched Alec and Willie for some time at their work, without venturing +to show herself. But George, who came up behind her as she stood, and +perceived her interest in the operations of the boys, took her by the +hand, and led her in, saying kindly: + +"Here's a new apprentice, Alec. She wants to learn boat-biggin." + +"Ou! Annie, is that you, lassie? Come awa'," said Alec. "There's a fine +heap o' spales ye can sit upo', and see what we're aboot." + +And so saying he seated her on the shavings, and half-buried her with +an armful more to keep her warm. + +"Put to the door, Willie," he added. "She'll be cauld. She's no +workin', ye see." + +Whereupon Willie shut the door, and Annie found herself very +comfortable indeed. There she sat, in perfect contentment, watching the +progress of the boat--a progress not very perceptible to her +inexperienced eyes, for the building of a boat is like the building of +a city or the making of a book: it turns out a boat at last. But after +she had sat for a good while in silence, she looked up at Alec, and +said: + +"Is there naething I can do to help ye, Alec?" + +"Naething, Annie. Lassies canna saw or plane, ye ken. Ye wad tak' aff +yer ain lugs in a jiffey." + +Again she was silent for a long time; and then, with a sigh, she looked +up and said: + +"Alec, I'm so cauld!" + +"I'll bring my plaid to row ye in the morn's nicht." + +Annie's heart bounded for joy; for here was what amounted to an express +invitation for to-morrow. + +"But," Alec went on, "come wi' me, and we'll sune get ye warm again. +Gie's yer han'." + +Annie gave Alec her hand; and he lifted her out of her heap of spales, +and led her away. She never thought of asking where he was leading her. +They had not gone far down the _close_, when a roaring sound fell upon +her ear, growing louder and louder as they went on; till, turning a +sharp corner, there they saw the smithy fire. The door of the smithy +was open, and they could see the smith at work some distance off. The +fire glowed with gathered rage at the impudence of the bellows blowing +in its face. The huge smith, with one arm flung affectionately over the +shoulder of the insulting party, urged it to the contest; while he +stirred up the other to increased ferocity, by poking a piece of iron +into the very middle of it. How the angry glare started out of it and +stared all the murky _smiddy_ in the face, showing such gloomy holes +and corners in it, and such a lot of horse-shoes hung up close to the +roof, ready to be fitted for unbelievable horse-wear; and making the +smith's face and bare arms glow with a dusky red, like hot metal, as if +he were the gnome-king of molten iron. Then he stooped, and took up +some coal dust in a little shovel, and patted it down over the fire, +and blew stronger than ever, and the sparks flew out with the rage of +the fire. Annie was delighted to look at it; but there was a certain +fierceness about the whole affair that made her shrink from going +nearer; and she could not help feeling a little afraid of the giant +smith in particular, with his brawny arms that twisted and tortured +iron bars all day long,--and his black angry-looking face, that seemed +for ever fighting with fire and stiff-necked metal His very look into +the forge-fire ought to have been enough to put it out of countenance. +Perhaps that was why it was so necessary to keep blowing and poking at +it. Again he stooped, caught up a great iron spoon, dipped it into a +tub of water, and poured the spoonful on the fire--a fresh insult, at +which it hissed and sputtered, like one of the fiery flying serpents of +which she had read in her Bible--gigantic, dragon-like creatures to her +imagination--in a perfect insanity of fury. But not the slightest +motion of her hand lying in Alec's, indicated reluctance, as he led her +into the shop, and right up to the wrathful man, saying: + +"Peter Whaup, here's a lassie 'at's 'maist frozen to deid wi' cauld. +Will ye tak' her in and lat her stan' by your ingle-neuk, and warm +hersel'?" + +"I'll do that, Alec. Come in by, my bairn. What ca' they ye?" + +"Annie Anderson." + +"Ow, ay! I ken a' aboot ye weel eneuch. Ye can lea' her wi' me, Alec; +I'll luik efter her." + +"I maun gang back to my boat, Annie," said Alec, then, apologetically, +"but I'll come in for ye again." + +So Annie was left with the smith, of whom she was not the least afraid, +now that she had heard him speak. With his leathern apron, caught up in +both hands, he swept a space on the front of the elevated hearth of the +forge, clear of cinders and dust, and then, having wiped his hands on +the same apron, lifted the girl as tenderly as if she had been a baby, +and set her down on this spot, about a yard from the fire, on a level +with it; and there she sat, in front of the smith, looking at the fire +and the smith and the work he was about, in turns. He asked her a great +many questions about herself and the Bruces, and her former life at +home; and every question he asked he put in a yet kindlier voice. +Sometimes he would stop in the middle of blowing, and lean forward with +his arm on the handle of the bellows, and look full in the child's face +till she had done answering him, with eyes that shone in the firelight +as if the tears would have gathered, but could not for the heat. + +"Ay! ay!" he would say, when she had answered him, and resume his +blowing, slowly and dreamily. For this terrible smith's heart was just +like his fire. He was a dreadful fellow for fighting and quarrelling +when he got a drop too much, which was rather too often, if the truth +must be told; but to this little woman-child his ways were as soft and +tender as a woman's: he could burn or warm. + +"An' sae ye likit bein' at the ferm best?" he said. + +"Ay. But ye see my father deid--" + +"I ken that, my bairn. The Lord haud a grip o' ye!" + +It was not often that Peter Whaup indulged in a pious ejaculation. But +this was a genuine one, and may be worth recording for the sake of +Annie's answer: + +"I'm thinkin' he hauds a grip o' us a', Mr Whaup." + +And then she told him the story about the rats and the cat; for hardly +a day passed just at this time without her not merely recalling it, but +reflecting upon it. And the smith drew the back of his hand across both +his eyes when she had done, and then pressed them both hard with the +thumb and forefinger of his right hand, as if they ached, while his +other arm went blowing away as if nothing was the matter but plenty of +wind for the forge-fire. Then he pulled out the red-hot _gad_, or iron +bar, which he seemed to have forgotten ever since Annie came in, and, +standing with his back to her to protect her from the sparks, put it on +his anvil, and began to lay on it, as if in a fury; while the sparks +flew from his blows as if in mortal terror of the angry man that was +pelting at the luminous glory laid thus submissive before him. In fact, +Peter was attempting to hammer out more things than one, upon that +_study_ of his; for in Scotland they call a smith's anvil a study, so +that he ranks with other artists in that respect. Then, as if anxious +to hear the child speak yet again, he said, putting the iron once more +in the fire, and proceeding to rouse the wrath of the coals: + +"Ye kent Jeames Dow, than?" + +"Ay; weel that. I kent Dooie as weel as Broonie." + +"Wha was Broonie?" + +"Ow! naebody but my ain coo." + +"An' Jeames was kin' to ye?" + +To this question no reply followed; but Peter, who stood looking at +her, saw her lips and the muscles of her face quivering an answer, +which if uttered at all, could come only in sobs and tears. + +But the sound of approaching steps and voices restored her equanimity, +and a listening look gradually displaced the emotion on her +countenance. Over the half-door of the shop appeared two men, each +bearing on his shoulder the socks (shares) of two ploughs, to be +sharpened, or set. The instant she saw them she tumbled off her perch, +and before they had got the door opened was half way to it, crying, +"Dooie! Dooie!" Another instant and she was lifted high in Dowie's +arms. + +"My little mistress!" exclaimed he, kissing her. "Hoo cam ye here?" + +"I'm safe eneuch here, Dooie; dinna be fleyt. I'll tell ye a' aboot it. +Alec's in George Macwha's shop yonner." + +"And wha's Alec?" asked Dowie. + +Leaving them now to their private communications, I will relate, for +the sake of its result, what passed between James Dow's companion and +the smith. + +"The last time," said the youth, "that ye set my sock, Peter Whaup, ye +turned it oot jist as saft's potty, and it wore oot raither suner." + +"Hoot! man, ye mistak. It wasna the sock. It was the heid that cam' +ahin' 't, and kentna hoo to haud it aff o' the stanes." + +"Ha! ha! ha! My heid's nae sae saft's yer ain. It's no rosten a' day +like yours, till it's birstled (scorched) and sung (singed) like a +sheep's. Jist gie me a haud o' the taings, an' I s' set my sock to my +ain min'." + +Peter gave up the tongs at once, and the young fellow proceeded to put +the share in the fire, and to work the bellows. + +"Ye'll never mak ony thing o' 't that gait," said Peter, as he took the +tongs from his hand, and altered the position of the share for him. "Ye +wad hae 'it black upo' ae side and white upo' the ither. Noo ca (drive) +steady, an' dinna blaw the fire aff o' the forge." + +But when it came to the anvil part of the work, Peter found so many +faults with the handling and the execution generally, that at length +the lad threw down the tongs with a laugh and an oath intermingled, +saying: + +"Ye can mak' potty o' 't yersel, than, Peter.--Ye jist min' me o' the +Waesome Carl." + +"What's that o' 't, Rory, man?" + +"Ow! naething but a bit sang that I cam' upo' the ither day i' the neuk +o' an auld newspaper." + +"Lat's hear't," said Peter. "Sing't, Rory. Ye're better kent for a guid +sang than for settin' socks." + +"I canna sing 't, for I dinna ken the tune o' 't. I only got a glimp' +o' 't, as I tell ye, in an auld news." + +"Weel, say't, than. Ye're as weel kent for a guid memory, as a guid +sang." + +Without more preamble, Rory repeated, with appropriate gesture, + + THE WAESOME CARL. + + There cam a man to oor toon-en', + An' a waesome carl was he; + Wi' a snubbert nose, an' a crookit mou', + An' a cock in his left ee. + And muckle he spied, and muckle he spak'; + But the burden o' his sang + Was aye the same, and ower again: + There's nane o' ye a' but's wrang. + Ye're a' wrang, and a' wrang, + And a'thegither a' wrang; + There's no a man aboot the town, + But's a'thegither a' wrang. + + That's no the gait to bake the breid, + Nor yet to brew the yill; + That's no the gait to haud the pleuch, + Nor yet to ca the mill. + That's no the gait to milk the coo, + Nor yet to spean the calf; + Nor yet to fill the girnel-kist-- + Ye kenna yer wark by half. + Ye're a' wrang, &c. + + The minister was na fit to pray, + And lat alane to preach; + He nowther had the gift o' grace, + Nor yet the gift o' speech. + He mind 't him o' Balaam's ass, + Wi' a differ ye may ken: + The Lord he open'd the ass's mou' + The minister open'd 's ain. + He's a' wrang, &c. + + The puir precentor cudna sing, + He gruntit like a swine; + The verra elders cudna pass + The ladles till his min'. + And for the rulin' elder's grace, + It wasna worth a horn; + He didna half uncurse the meat, + Nor pray for mair the morn. + He's a' wrang, &c. + + And aye he gied his nose a thraw, + And aye he crookit his mou'; + And aye he cockit up his ee, + And said, "Tak' tent the noo." + We leuch ahint oor loof (palm), man, + And never said him nay: + And aye he spak'--jist lat him speik! + And aye he said his say: + Ye're a' wrang, &c. + + Quo' oor guidman: "The crater's daft; + But wow! he has the claik; + Lat's see gin he can turn a han' + Or only luik and craik. + It's true we maunna lippen till him-- + He's fairly crack wi' pride; + But he maun live, we canna kill him-- + Gin he can work, he s' bide." + He was a' wrang, &c. + + "It's true it's but a laddie's turn, + But we'll begin wi' a sma' thing; + There's a' thae weyds to gather an' burn-- + An' he's the man for a' thing." + We gaed oor wa's, and loot him be, + To do jist as he micht; + We think to hear nae mair o' him, + Till we come hame at nicht; + But we're a' wrang, &c. + + For, losh! or it was denner-time, + The lift (firmament) was in a low; + The reek rase up, as it had been + Frae Sodom-flames, I vow. + We ran like mad; but corn and byre + War blazin'--wae's the fell!-- + As gin the deil had broucht the fire, + To mak' anither hell. + 'Twas a' wrang, &c. + + And by the blaze the carl stud, + Wi's han's aneath his tails; + And aye he said--"I tauld ye sae, + An' ye're to blame yersels. + It's a' your wite (blame), for ye're a' wrang-- + Ye'll maybe own't at last: + What gart ye burn thae deevilich weyds, + Whan the win' blew frae the wast? + Ye're a' wrang, and a' wrang, + And a'thegither a' wrang; + There's no a man in a' the warl' + But's a'thegither a' wrang." + +Before the recitation was over, which was performed with considerable +spirit and truth, Annie and Dowie were listening attentively, along +with Alec, who had returned to take Annie back, and who now joined +loudly in the applause which followed the conclusion of the verses. + +"Faith, that was a chield to haud oot ower frae," said Alec to Rory. +"And ye said the sang weel. Ye sud learn to sing't though." + +"Maybe I may, some day; gin I cud only get a grainie saut to pit upo' +the tail o' the bird that kens the tune o' 't. What ca' they you, noo?" + +"Alec Forbes," answered the owner of the name. + +"Ay," interposed Annie, addressing herself to Dowie, who still held her +in his arms; "this is Alec, that I tell't ye aboot. He's richt guid to +me. Alec, here's Dooie, 'at I like better nor onybody i' the warl'." + +And she turned and kissed the bronzed face, which was a clean face, +notwithstanding the contrary appearance given to it by a beard of three +days' growth, which Annie's kiss was too full of love to mind. + +Annie would have been yet more ready to tell Dowie and Alec each who +the other was, had she not been occupied in her own mind with a +discovery she had made. For had not those verses given evident delight +to the company--Alec among the rest? Had he not applauded loudest of +all?--Was there not here something she could do, and so contribute to +the delight of the workmen, Alec and Willie, and thus have her part in +the boat growing beneath their hands? She would then be no longer a +tolerated beholder, indebted to their charity for permission to enjoy +their society, but a contributing member of the working community--if +not working herself, yet upholding those that wrought. The germ of all +this found itself in her mind that moment, and she resolved before next +night to be able to emulate Rory. + +Dowie carried her home in his arms, and on the way she told him all +about the kindness of Alec and his mother. He asked her many questions +about the Bruces; but her patient nature, and the instinctive feeling +that it would make Dowie unhappy, withheld her from representing the +discomforts of her position in strong colours. Dowie, however, had his +own thoughts on the matter. + +"Hoo are ye the nicht, Mr Dow?" said Robert, who treated him with oily +respect, because he was not only acquainted with all Annie's affairs, +but was a kind of natural, if not legal, guardian of her and her +property. "And whaur did ye fa' in wi' this stray lammie o' oors?" + +"She's been wi' me this lang time," answered Dow, declining, with +Scotch instinct, to give an answer, before he understood all the drift +of the question. A Scotchman would always like the last question first. + +"She's some ill for rinnin' oot," said Bruce, with soft words addressed +to Dow, and a cutting look flung at Annie, "withoot speirin' leave, and +we dinna ken whaur she gangs; and that's no richt for lass-bairns." + +"Never ye min' her, Mr Bruce," replied Dow. "I ken her better nor you, +no meanin' ony offence, seein' she was i' my airms afore she was a week +auld. Lat her gang whaur she likes, and gin she does what she sudna do, +I'll tak a' the wyte o' 't." + +Now there was no great anxiety about Annie's welfare in the mind of Mr +or Mrs Bruce. The shop and their own children, chiefly the former +occupied their thoughts, and the less trouble they had from the +presence of Annie, the better pleased they were--always provided they +could escape the censure of neglect. Hence it came that Annie's +absences were but little inquired into. All the attention they did show +her, seemed to them to be of free grace and to the credit of their +charity. + +But Bruce did not like the influence that James Dow had with her; and +before they retired for the night, he had another lecture ready for +Annie. + +"Annie," he said, "it's no becomin' for ane i' your station to be sae +familiar. Ye'll be a young leddy some day, and it's no richt to tak up +wi' servan's. There's Jeames Doo, jist a labourin' man, and aneath your +station a'thegether, and he taks ye up in's airms, as gin ye war a +bairn o' 's ain. It's no proaper." + +"I like Jamie Doo better nor onybody i' the haill warl," said Annie, +"excep'--" + +Here she stopped short. She would not expose her heart to the gaze of +that man. + +"Excep' wha?" urged Bruce. + +"I'm no gaein to say," returned Annie firmly. + +"Ye're a camstairie (perverse) lassie," said Bruce, pushing her away +with a forceful acidity in the combination of tone and push. + +She walked off to bed, caring nothing for his rebuke. For since Alec's +kindness had opened to her a well of the water of life, she had almost +ceased to suffer from the ungeniality of her guardians. She forgot them +as soon as she was out of their sight. And certainly they were nicer to +forget than to remember. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. [sic, should be XXII.] + + +As soon as she was alone in her room she drew from her pocket a parcel +containing something which Dowie had bought for her on their way home. +When undone it revealed two or three tallow candles, a precious present +in view of her hopes. But how should she get a light--for this was long +before lucifer matches had risen even upon the horizon of Glamerton? +There was but one way. + +She waited, sitting on the edge of her bed, in the cold and darkness, +until every sound in the house had ceased. Then she stepped cautiously +down the old stair, which would crack now and then, use what care and +gentleness she might. + +It was the custom in all the houses of Glamerton to _rest_ the fire; +that is, to keep it gently alive all night by the help of a _truff_, or +sod cut from the top of a peat-moss--a coarse peat in fact, more loose +and porous than the peat proper--which they laid close down upon the +fire, destroying almost all remaining draught by means of coal-dust. To +this sealed fountain of light the little maiden was creeping through +the dark house, with one of her _dips_ in her hand--the pitcher with +which she was about to draw from the fountain. + +And a pretty study she would have made for any child-loving artist, +when, with her face close to the grate, her mouth puckered up to do +duty as the nozzle of a pair of bellows, one hand holding a twisted +piece of paper between the bars, and the other buttressing the whole +position from the floor, she blew at the live but reluctant fire, a +glow spreading at each breath over her face, and then fading as the +breath ceased, till at last the paper caught, and lighting it up from +without with flame, and from within with the shine of success, made the +lovely child-countenance like the face of one that has found the truth +after the search of weary days. + +Thus she lighted her candle, and again with careful steps she made her +way to her own room. Setting the candle in a hole in the floor, left by +the departure of a resinous knot, she opened her box, in which lay the +few books her aunt had thrown into it when she left her old home. She +had not yet learned to care much about books; but one of these had now +become precious in her eyes, because she knew it contained poems that +her father had been fond of reading. She soon found it--a volume by +some Scotch poet of little fame, whose inward commotions had generated +their own alleviation in the harmonies of ordered words in which they +embodied themselves. In it Annie searched for something to learn before +the following night, and found a ballad the look of which she liked, +and which she very soon remembered as one she had heard her father +read. It was very cold work to learn it at midnight, in winter, and in +a garret too; but so intent was she, that before she went to bed, she +had learned four or five verses so thoroughly that she could repeat +them without thinking of what came next, and these she kept saying over +and over again even in her dreams. + +As soon as she woke in the dark morning she put her hand under her +pillow to feel the precious volume, which she hoped would be the bond +to bind her yet more closely to the boat and its builders. She took it +to school in her pocket, learning the whole way as she went, and taking +a roundabout road that her cousins might not interrupt her. She kept +repeating and peeping every possible moment during school hours, and +then all the way home again. So that by the time she had had her +dinner, and the gauzy twilight had thickened to the "blanket of the +dark," she felt quite ready to carry her offering of "the song that +lightens toil," to George Macwha's workshop. + +How clever they must be, she thought, as she went along, to make such a +beautiful thing as the boat was now growing to! And she felt in her +heart a kind of love for the look of living grace that the little craft +already wore. Indeed before it was finished she had learned to regard +it with a feeling of mingled awe, affection, and admiration, and the +little boat had made for itself a place in her brain. + +When she entered, she found the two boys already in busy talk; and +without interrupting them by a word, she took her place on the heap of +shavings which had remained undisturbed since last night. After the +immediate consultation was over, and the young carpenters had settled +to their work--not knowing what introduction to give to her offering, +she produced it without any at all. The boys did not know what to make +of it at first, hearing something come all at once from Annie's lips +which was neither question nor remark, and broke upon the silence like +an alien sound. But they said nothing--only gave a glance at each other +and at her, and settled down to listen and to work. Nor did they speak +one word until she had finished the ballad. + + "THE LAST WOOING," + +said Annie, all at once, and went on: + + "O lat me in, my bonny lass! + It's a lang road ower the hill; + And the flauchterin' snaw began to fa', + As I cam by the mill." + + "This is nae change-hoose, John Munro, + And ye needna come nae mair: + Ye crookit yer mou', and lichtlied me, + Last Wednesday, at the fair." + + "I lichtlied ye!" "Aboon the glass." + "Foul-fa' the ill-faured mouth + That made the leein' word to pass, + By rowin' 't (wrapping) in the truth. + + The fac' was this: I dochtna bide + To hear yer bonnie name, + Whaur muckle mous war opened wide + Wi' lawless mirth and shame. + + And a' I said was: 'Hoot! lat sit; + She's but a bairn, the lass.' + It turned the spait (flood) o' words a bit, + And loot yer fair name pass." + + "Thank ye for naething, John Munro! + My name can gang or bide; + It's no a sough o' drucken words + Wad turn my heid aside." + + "O Elsie, lassie o' my ain! + The drift is cauld and strang; + O tak me in ae hour, and syne + I'll gather me and gang." + + "Ye're guid at fleechin' (wheedling), Jock Munro. + For ye heedna fause and true: + Gang in to Katie at the Mill, + She lo'es sic like as you." + + He turned his fit; he spak nae mair. + The lift was like to fa'; + And Elsie's heart grew grit and sair (big and sore), + At sicht o' the drivin' snaw. + + She laid her doun, but no to sleep, + For her verra heart was cauld; + And the sheets war like a frozen heap + O' snaw aboot her faul'd. + + She rase fu' ear'. And a' theroot + Was ae braid windin' sheet; + At the door-sill, or winnock-lug (window-corner), + Was never a mark o' feet. + + She crap a' day aboot the hoose, + Slow-fittit and hert-sair, + Aye keekin' oot like a frichtit moose,-- + But Johnnie cam nae mair! + + When saft the thow begud to melt + Awa' the ghaistly snaw, + Her hert was safter nor the thow, + Her pride had ta'en a fa.' + + And she oot ower the hill wad gang, + Whaur the sun was blinkin' bonnie, + To see his auld minnie (mother) in her cot, + And speir aboot her Johnnie. + + But as alang the hill she gaed, + Through snaw und slush and weet, + She stoppit wi' a chokin' cry-- + 'Twas Johnnie at her feet. + + His heid was smoored aneath the snaw, + But his breist was maistly bare; + And 'twixt his breist and his richt han', + He claisp't a lock o' hair. + + 'Twas gowden hair: she kent it weel. + Alack, the sobs and sighs! + The warm win' blew, the laverock flew, + But Johnnie wadna rise. + + The spring cam ower the wastlin (westward) hill, + And the frost it fled awa'; + And the green grass luikit smilin' up, + Nane the waur for a' the snaw. + + And saft it grew on Johnnie's grave, + Whaur deep the sunshine lay; + But, lang or that, on Elsie's heid + The gowden hair was gray. + +George Macwha, who was at work in the other end of the shop when she +began, had drawn near, chisel in hand, and joined the listeners. + +"Weel dune, Annie!" exclaimed he, as soon as she had finished--feeling +very shy and awkward, now that her experiment had been made. But she +had not long to wait for the result. + +"Say't ower again, Annie," said Alec, after a moment's pause. + +Could she have wished for more? + +She did say it over again. + +"Eh, Annie! that's rale bonnie. Whaur did ye get it?" he asked. + +"In an auld buikie o' my father's," answered she. + +"Is there ony mair in't like it?" + +"Ay, lots." + +"Jist learn anither, will ye, afore the morn's nicht?" + +"I'll do that, Alec." + +"Dinna ye like it, Curly?" asked Alec, for Curly had said nothing. + +"Ay, fegs! (faith)" was Curly's emphatic and uncritical reply. + +Annie therefore learned and repeated a few more, which, if not received +with equal satisfaction, yet gave sufficient pleasure to the listeners. +They often, however, returned to the first, demanding it over and over +again, till at length they knew it as well as she. + +Hut a check was given for a while to these forenight meetings. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + +A rapid thaw set in, and up through the vanishing whiteness dawned the +dark colours of the wintry landscape. For a day or two the soft wet +snow lay mixed with water over all the road. After that came mire and +dirt. But it was still so far off spring, that nobody cared to be +reminded of it yet. So when, after the snow had vanished, a hard black +frost set in, it was welcomed by the schoolboys at least, whatever the +old people and the poor people, and especially those who were both old +and poor, may have thought of the change. Under the binding power of +this frost, the surface of the slow-flowing Glamour and of the swifter +Wan-Water, were once more chilled and stiffened to ice, which every day +grew thicker and stronger. And now, there being no coverlet of snow +upon it, the boys came out in troops, in their iron-shod shoes and +their clumsy skates, to skim along those floors of delight that the +winter had laid for them. To the fishes the ice was a warm blanket cast +over them to keep them from the frost. But they must have been dismayed +at the dim rush of so many huge forms above them, as if another river +with other and awful fishes had buried theirs. Alec and Willie left +their boat--almost for a time forgot it--repaired their skates, joined +their school-fellows, and shot along the solid water with the banks +flying past them. It was strange to see the banks thus from the middle +surface of the water. All was strange about them; and the delight of +the strangeness increased the delight of the motion, and sent the blood +through their veins swift as their flight along the frozen rivers. + +For many afternoons and into the early nights, Alec and Curly held on +the joyful sport, and Annie was for the time left lonely. But she was +neither disconsolate nor idle. The boat was a sure pledge for them. To +the boat and her they must return. She went to the shop still, now and +then, to see George Macwha, who, of an age beyond the seduction of ice +and skates, kept on steadily at his work. To him she would repeat a +ballad or two, at his request, and then go home to increase her stock. +This was now a work of some difficulty, for her provision of candles +was exhausted, and she had no money with which to buy more. The last +candle had come to a tragical end. For, hearing steps approaching her +room one morning, before she had put it away in its usual safety in her +box, she hastily poked it into one of the holes in the floor and forgot +it. When she sought it at night, it was gone. Her first dread was that +she had been found out; but hearing nothing of it, she concluded at +last that her enemies the _rottans_ had carried it off and devoured it. + +"Deil choke them upo' the wick o' 't!" exclaimed Curly, when she told +him the next day, seeking a partner in her grief. + +But a greater difficulty had to be encountered. It was not long before +she had exhausted her book, from which she had chosen the right poems +by insight, wonderfully avoiding by instinct the unsuitable, without +knowing why, and repelled by the mere tone. + +She thought day and night where additional _pabulum_ might be procured, +and at last came to the resolution of applying to Mr Cowie the +clergyman. Without consulting any one, she knocked on an afternoon at +Mr Cowie's door. + +"Cud I see the minister?" she said to the maid. + +"I dinna ken. What do you want?" was the maid's reply. + +But Annie was Scotch too, and perhaps perceived that she would have but +a small chance of being admitted into the minister's presence if she +communicated the object of her request to the servant. So she only +replied, + +"I want to see himsel', gin ye please." + +"Weel, come in, and I'll tell him. What's yer name?" + +"Annie Anderson" + +"Whaur do ye bide?" + +"At Mr Bruce's, i' the Wast Wynd." + +The maid went, and presently returning with the message that she was to +"gang up the stair," conducted her to the study where the minister +sat--a room, to Annie's amazement, filled with books from the top to +the bottom of every wall. Mr Cowie held out his hand to her, and said, + +"Well, my little maiden, what do you want?" + +"Please, sir, wad ye len' me a sang-buik?" + +"A psalm-book?" said the minister, hesitatingly, supposing he had not +heard aright, and yet doubting if this could be the correction of his +auricular blunder. + +"Na, sir; I hae a psalm-buik at hame. It's a sang-buik that I want the +len' o'." + +Now the minister was one of an old school--a very worthy kind-hearted +man, with nothing of what has been called _religious experience_. But +he knew what some of his Lord's words meant, and amongst them certain +words about little children. He had a feeling likewise, of more +instinctive origin, that to be kind to little children was an important +branch of his office. So he drew Annie close to him, as he sat in his +easy-chair, laid his plump cheek against her thin white one, and said +in the gentlest way: + +"And what do you want a song-book for, dawtie?" + +"To learn bonnie sangs oot o', sir. Dinna ye think they're the bonniest +things in a' the warl',--sangs, sir?" + +For Annie had by this time learned to love ballad-verse above +everything but Alec and Dowie. + +"And what kind o' sangs do ye like?" the clergyman asked, instead of +replying. + +"I like them best that gar ye greit, sir." + +At every answer, she looked up in his face with her open clear blue +eyes. And the minister began to love her not merely because she was a +child, but because she was this child. + +"Do ye sing them?" he asked, after a little pause of pleased gazing +into the face of the child. + +"Na, na; I only say them. I dinna ken the tunes o' them." + +"And do you say them to Mr Bruce?" + +"Mr Bruce, sir! Mr Bruce wad say I was daft. I wadna say a sang to him, +sir, for--for--for a' the sweeties i' the shop." + +"Well, who do you say them to?" + +"To Alec Forbes and Willie Macwha. They're biggin a boat, sir; and they +like to hae me by them, as they big, to say sangs to them. And I like +it richt weel." + +"It'll be a lucky boat, surely," said the minister, "to rise to the +sound of rhyme, like some old Norse war-ship." + +"I dinna ken, sir," said Annie, who certainly did not know what he +meant. + +Now the minister's acquaintance with any but the classic poets was very +small indeed; so that, when he got up and stood before his +book-shelves, with the design of trying what he could do for her, he +could think of nobody but Milton. + +So he brought the _Paradise Lost_ from its place, where it had not been +disturbed for years, and placing it before her on the table, for it was +a quarto copy, asked her if that would do. She opened it slowly and +gently, with a reverential circumspection, and for the space of about +five minutes, remained silent over it, turning leaves, and tasting, and +turning, and tasting again. At length, with one hand resting on the +book, she turned to Mr Cowie, who was watching with much interest and a +little anxiety the result of the experiment, and said gently and +sorrowfully: + +"I dinna think this is the richt buik for me, sir. There's nae sang +in't that I can fin' out. It gangs a' straucht on, and never turns or +halts a bit. Noo ye see, sir, a sang aye turns roun', and begins again, +and afore lang it comes fairly to an en', jist like a day, sir, whan we +gang to oor beds an' fa' asleep. But this hauds on and on, and there's +no end till't ava (at all). It's jist like the sun that 'never tires +nor stops to rest.'" + +"'But round the world he shines,'" said the clergyman, completing the +quotation, right good-humouredly, though he was somewhat bewildered; +for he had begun to fall a-marvelling at the little dingy maiden, with +the untidy hair and dirty frock, who had thoughts of her own, and would +not concede the faculty of song to the greatest of epic poets. + +Doubtless if he had tried her with some of the short poems at the end +of the _Paradise Regained_, which I doubt if he had ever even read, she +would at least have allowed that they were not devoid of song. But it +was better perhaps that she should be left free to follow her own +instincts. The true teacher is the one who is able to guide those +instincts, strengthen them with authority, and illuminate them with +revelation of their own fundamental truth. The best this good minister +could do was not to interfere with them. He was so anxious to help her, +however, that, partly to gain some minutes for reflection, partly to +get the assistance of his daughters, he took her by the hand, and led +her to the dining-room, where tea was laid for himself and his two +grown-up girls. She went without a thought of question or a feeling of +doubt; for however capable she was of ordering her own way, nothing +delighted her more than blind submission, wherever she felt justified +in yielding it. It was a profound pleasure to her not to know what was +coming next, provided some one whom she loved did. So she sat down to +tea with the perfect composure of submission to a superior will. It +never occurred to her that she had no right to be there; for had not +the minister himself led her there? And his daughters were very kind +and friendly. In the course of the meal, Mr Cowie having told them the +difficulty he was in, they said that perhaps they might be able to find +what she wanted, or something that might take the place of it; and +after tea, one of them brought two volumes of ballads of all sorts, +some old, some new, some Scotch, some English, and put them into +Annie's hands, asking her if that book would do. The child eagerly +opened one of the volumes, and glanced at a page: It sparkled with the +right ore of ballad-words. The Red, the colour always of delight, grew +in her face. She closed the book as if she could not trust herself to +look at it while others were looking at her, and said with a sigh: + +"Eh, mem! Ye wonna lippen them _baith_ to me?" + +"Yes, I will," said Miss Cowie. "I am sure you will take care of them." + +"_That--I--will_," returned Annie, with an honesty and determination of +purpose that made a great impression upon Mr Cowie especially. And she +ran home with a feeling of richness of possession such as she had never +before experienced. + +Her first business was to scamper up to her room, and hide the precious +treasures in her _kist_, there to wait all night, like the buried dead, +for the coming morning. + +When she confessed to Mr Bruce that she had had tea with the minister, +he held up his hands in the manner which commonly expresses amazement; +but what the peculiar character or ground of the amazement might be +remained entirely unrevealed, for he said not a word to elucidate the +gesture. + +The next time Annie went to see the minister it was on a very different +quest from the loan of a song-book. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + +One afternoon, as Alec went home to dinner, he was considerably +surprised to find Mr Malison leaning on one of the rails of the +foot-bridge over the Glamour, looking down upon its frozen surface. +There was nothing supernatural or alarming in this, seeing that, after +school was over, Alec had run up the town to the saddler's, to get a +new strap for one of his skates. What made the fact surprising was, +that the scholars so seldom encountered the master anywhere except in +school. Alec thought to pass, but the moment his foot was on the bridge +the master lifted himself up, and faced round. + +"Well, Alec," he said, "where have _you_ been?" + +"To get a new strap for my skatcher," answered Alec. + +"You're fond of skating--are you, Alec?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"I used to be when I was a boy. Have you had your dinner?" + +"No, sir." + +"Then I suppose your mother has not dined, either?" + +"She never does till I go home, sir." + +"Then I won't intrude upon her. I did mean to call this afternoon." + +"She will be very glad to see you, sir. Come and take a share of what +there is." + +"I think I had better not, Alec." + +"Do, sir. I am sure she will make you welcome." + +Mr Malison hesitated. Alec pressed him. He yielded; and they went along +the road together. + +I shall not have to show much more than half of Mr Malison's life--the +school half, which, both inwardly and outwardly, was very different +from the other. The moment he was out of the school, the moment, that +is, that he ceased for the day to be responsible for the moral and +intellectual condition of his turbulent subjects, the whole +character--certainly the whole deportment--of the man changed. He was +now as meek and gentle in speech and behaviour as any mother could have +desired. + +Nor was the change a hypocritical one. The master never interfered, or +only upon the rarest occasions when pressure from without was brought +to bear upon him, as in the case of Juno, with what the boys did out of +school. He was glad enough to accept utter irresponsibility for that +portion of his time; so that between the two parts of the day, as they +passed through the life of the master, there was almost as little +connection as between the waking and sleeping hours of a somnambulist. + +But, as he leaned over the rail of the bridge, whither a rare impulse +to movement had driven him, his thoughts had turned upon Alec Forbes +and his antagonism. Out of school, he could not help feeling that the +boy had not been very far wrong, however subversive of authority his +behaviour had been; but it was not therefore the less mortifying to +think how signally he had been discomfited by him. And he was compelled +moreover to acknowledge to himself that it was a mercy that Alec was +not the boy to follow up his advantage by heading--not a party against +the master, but the whole school, which would have been ready enough to +follow such a victorious leader. So there was but one way of setting +matters right, as Mr Malison had generosity enough left in him to +perceive; and that was, to make a friend of his adversary. Indeed there +is that in the depths of every human breast which makes a +reconciliation the only victory that can give true satisfaction. Nor +was the master the only gainer by the resolve which thus arose in his +mind the very moment before he felt Alec's tread upon the bridge. + +They walked together to Howglen, talking kindly the whole way; to which +talk, and most likely to which kindness between them, a little incident +had contributed as well. Alec had that day rendered a passage of Virgil +with a remarkable accuracy, greatly pleasing to the master, who, +however, had no idea to what this isolated success was attributable. I +forget the passage; but it had reference to the setting of sails, and +Alec could not rest till he had satisfied himself about its meaning; +for when we are once interested in anything, we want to see it nearer +as often as it looms in sight. So he had with some difficulty cleared +away the mists that clung about the words, till at length he beheld and +understood the fact embodied in them. + +Alec had never had praise from Mr Malison before--at least none that +had made any impression on him--and he found it very sweet. And through +the pleasure dawned the notion that perhaps he might be a scholar after +all if he gave his mind to it. In this he was so far right: a fair +scholar he might be, though a learned man he never could be, without +developing an amount of will, and effecting a degree of self-conquest, +sufficient for a Jesuit,--losing at the same time not only what he was +especially made for knowing, but, in a great measure, what he was +especially made for being. Few, however, are in danger of going so +grievously against the intellectual impulses of their nature: far more +are in danger of following them without earnestness, or if earnestly, +then with the absorption of an eagerness only worldly. + +Mrs Forbes, seeing the pleasure expressed on Alec's countenance, +received Mr Malison with more than the usual cordiality, forgetting +when he was present before her eyes what she had never failed to think +of with bitterness when he was only present to her mind. + +As soon as dinner was over Alec rushed off to the river, leaving his +mother and the master together. Mrs Forbes brought out the +whisky-bottle, and Mr Malison, mixing a tumbler of toddy, filled a +wine-glass for his hostess. + +"We'll make a man of Alec some day yet," said he, giving an +ill-considered form to his thoughts. + +"'Deed!" returned Mrs Forbes, irritated at the suggestion of any +difficulty in the way of Alec's ultimate manhood, and perhaps glad of +the opportunity of speaking her mind--"'Deed! Mr Malison, ye made a +bonnie munsie (monsieur) o' him a month ago. It wad set ye weel to try +yer hand at makin' a man o' him noo." + +Had Alec been within hearing, he would never have let his mother forget +this speech. For had not she, the immaculate, the reprover, fallen +herself into the slough of the vernacular? The fact is, it is easier to +speak the truth in a _patois_, for it lies nearer to the simple +realities than a more conventional speech. + +I do not however allow that the Scotch is a _patois_ in the ordinary +sense of the word. For had not Scotland a living literature, and that a +high one, when England could produce none, or next to none--I mean in +the fifteenth century? But old age, and the introduction of a more +polished form of utterance, have given to the Scotch all the other +advantages of a _patois_, in addition to its own directness and +simplicity. + +For a moment the dominie was taken aback, and sat reddening over his +toddy, which, not daring even to taste it, he went on stirring with his +toddy-ladle. For one of the disadvantages of a broken life is, that +what a person may do with a kind of conscience in the one part, he +feels compelled to blush for in the other. The despotism exercised in +the school, even though exercised with a certain sense of justice and +right, made the autocrat, out of school, cower before the parents of +his helpless subjects. And this quailing of heart arose not merely from +the operation of selfish feelings, but from a deliquium that fell upon +his principles, in consequence of their sudden exposure to a more open +atmosphere. But with a sudden perception that his only chance was to +throw himself on the generosity of a woman, he said: + +"Well, ma'am, if you had to keep seventy boys and girls quiet, and hear +them their lessons at the same time, perhaps you would find yourself in +danger of doing in haste what you might repent at leisure." + +"Weel, weel, Mr Malison, we'll say nae mair aboot it. My laddie's nane +the waur for't noo; and I hope ye will mak a man o' him some day, as ye +say." + +"He translated a passage of Virgil to-day in a manner that surprised +me." + +"Did he though? He's not a dunce, I know; and if it weren't for that +stupid boat he and William Macwha are building, he might be made a +scholar of, I shouldn't wonder. George should have more sense than +encourage such a waste of time and money. He's always wanting something +or other for the boat, and I confess I can't find in my heart to refuse +him, for, whatever he may be at school, he's a good boy at home, Mr +Malison." + +But the schoolmaster did not reply at once, for a light had dawned upon +him: this then was the secret of Alec's translation--a secret in good +sooth worth his finding out. One can hardly believe that it should have +been to the schoolmaster the first revelation of the fact that a +practical interest is the strongest incitement to a theoretical +acquaintance. But such was the case. He answered after a moment's +pause-- + +"I suspect, ma'am, on the contrary, that the boat, of which I had heard +nothing till now, was Alec's private tutor in the passage of Virgil to +which I have referred." + +"I don't understand you, Mr Malison." + +"I mean, ma'am, that his interest in his boat made him take an interest +in those lines about ships and their rigging. So the boat taught him to +translate them." + +"I see, I see." + +"And that makes me doubt, ma'am, whether we shall be able to make him +learn anything to good purpose that he does not take an interest in." + +"Well, what _do_ you think he is fit for, Mr Malison? I should like him +to be able to be something else than a farmer, whatever he may settle +down to at last." + +Mrs Forbes thought, whether wisely or not, that as long as she was able +to manage the farm, Alec might as well be otherwise employed. And she +had ambition for her son as well. But the master was able to make no +definite suggestion. Alec seemed to have no special qualification for +any profession; for the mechanical and constructive faculties had alone +reached a notable development in him as yet. So after a long talk, his +mother and the schoolmaster had come no nearer than before to a +determination of what he was fit for. The interview, however, restored +a good understanding between them. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + +It was upon a Friday night that the frost finally broke up. A day of +wintry rain followed, dreary and depressing. But the two boys, Alec +Forbes and Willie Macwha, had a refuge from the _ennui_ commonly +attendant on such weather, in the prosecution of their boat-building. +Hence it came to pass that in the early evening of the following +Saturday, they found themselves in close consultation in George +Macwha's shop, upon a doubtful point involved in the resumption of +their labour. But they could not settle the matter without reference to +the master of the mystery, George himself, and were, in the mean time, +busy getting their tools in order--when he entered, in conversation +with Thomas Crann the mason, who, his bodily labours being quite +interrupted by the rain, had the more leisure apparently to bring his +mental powers to bear upon the condition of his neighbours. + +"It's a sod pity, George," he was saying as he entered, "that a man +like you wadna, ance for a', tak thoucht a bit, and consider the en' o' +a' thing that the sun shines upo'." + +"Hoo do ye ken, Thamas, that I dinna tak thoucht?" + +"Will ye say 'at ye _div_ tak thoucht, George?" + +"I'm a bit o' a Protestant, though I'm nae missionar; an' I'm no +inclined to confess, Thamas--meanin' no ill-will to _you_ for a' that, +ye ken," added George, in a conciliatory tone. + +"Weel, weel. I can only say that I hae seen no signs o' a savin' +seriousness aboot ye, George. Ye're sair ta'en up wi' the warl'." + +"Hoo mak' ye that oot? Ye big hooses, an' I mak' doors to them. And +they'll baith stan' efter you an' me's laid i' the mouls.--It's weel +kent forbye that ye hae a bit siller i' the bank, and I hae none." + +"Not a bawbee hae I, George. I can pray for my daily breid wi' an +honest hert; for gin the Lord dinna sen' 't, I hae nae bank to fa' back +upo'." + +"I'm sorry to hear 't, Thamas," said George.--"But Guid guide 's!" he +exclaimed, "there's the twa laddies, hearkenin' to ilka word 'at we +say!" + +He hoped thus, but hoped in vain, to turn the current of the +conversation. + +"A' the better for that!" persisted Thomas. "They need to be remin't as +well as you and me, that the fashion o' this warld passeth away. Alec, +man, Willie, my lad, can ye big a boat to tak' ye ower the river o' +Deith?--Na, ye'll no can do that. Ye maun gae through that watshod, I +doobt! But there's an ark o' the Covenant that'll carry ye safe ower +that and a waur flood to boot--and that's the flood o' God's wrath +against evil-doers.--'Upon the wicked he shall rain fire and +brimstone--a furious tempest.'--We had a gran' sermon upo' the ark o' +the Covenant frae young Mr Mirky last Sabbath nicht. What for will na +ye come and hear the Gospel for ance and awa' at least, George Macwha? +Ye can sit i' my seat." + +"I'm obleeged to ye," answered George; "but the muckle kirk does weel +eneuch for me. And ye ken I'm precentor, noo, forbye." + +"The muckle kirk!" repeated Thomas, in a tone of contempt. "What get ye +there but the dry banes o' morality, upo' which the win' o' the word +has never blawn to pit life into the puir disjaskit skeleton. Come ye +to oor kirk, an' ye'll get a rousin', I can tell ye, man. Eh! man, gin +ye war ance convertit, ye wad ken hoo to sing. It's no great singin' +'at _ye_ guide." + +Before the conversation had reached this point another listener had +arrived: the blue eyes of Annie Anderson were fixed upon the speaker +from over the half-door of the workshop. The drip from the thatch-eaves +was dropping upon her shabby little shawl as she stood, but she was +utterly heedless of it in the absorption of hearkening to Thomas Crann, +who talked with authority, and a kind of hard eloquence of persuasion. + +I ought to explain here that the _muckle kirk_ meant the parish church; +and that the religious community to which Thomas Crann belonged was one +of the first results of the propagation of English Independency in +Scotland. These Independents went commonly by the name of _Missionars_ +in all that district; a name arising apparently from the fact that they +were the first in the neighbourhood to advocate the sending of +missionaries to the heathen. The epithet was, however, always used with +a considerable admixture of contempt. + +"Are ye no gaein to get a minister o' yer ain, Thamas?" resumed George, +after a pause, still wishing to turn the cart-wheels of the +conversation out of the deep ruts in which the stiff-necked Thomas +seemed determined to keep them moving. + +"Na; we'll bide a bit, and try the speerits. We're no like you--forced +to lat ower (swallow) ony jabble o' lukewarm water that's been stan'in' +i' the sun frae year's en' to year's en', jist because the patron +pleases to stick a pump intil 't an' ca' 't a well o' salvation. We'll +ken whaur the water comes frae. We'll taste them a', and cheese +accordin'." + +"Weel, I wadna like the trouble nor yet the responsibility." + +"I daursay not." + +"Na. Nor yet the shame o' pretennin' to jeedge my betters," added +George, now a little nettled, as was generally the result at last of +Thomas's sarcastic tone. + +"George," said Thomas solemnly, "nane but them that has the speerit can +ken the speerit." + +With these words, he turned and strode slowly and gloomily out of the +shop--no doubt from dissatisfaction with the result of his attempt. + +Who does not see that Thomas had a hold of something to which George +was altogether a stranger? Surely it is something more to stand with +Moses upon Mount Sinai, and see the back of God through ever so many +folds of cloudy darkness, than be sitting down to eat and drink, or +rising up to play about the golden calf, at the foot of the mountain. +And that Thomas was possessed of some divine secret, the heart of child +Annie was perfectly convinced; the tone of his utterance having a +greater share in producing this conviction than anything he had said. +As he passed out, she looked up reverently at him, as one to whom deep +things lay open, Thomas had a kind of gruff gentleness towards children +which they found very attractive; and this meek maiden he could not +threaten with the vials of wrath. He laid his hard heavy hand kindly on +her head, saying: + +"Ye'll be ane o' the Lord's lambs, will ye no? Ye'll gang into the fold +efter him, will ye no?" + +"Ay will I," answered Annie, "gin He'll lat in Alec and Curly too." + +"Ye maun mak nae bargains wi' him; but gin they'll gang in, he'll no +haud them oot." + +And away, somewhat comforted, the honest stonemason strode, through the +darkness and the rain, to his own rather cheerless home, where he had +neither wife nor child to welcome him. An elderly woman took care of +his house, whose habitual attitude towards him was one half of awe and +half of resistance. The moment he entered, she left the room where she +had been sitting, without a word of welcome, and betook herself to the +kitchen, where she prepared his plate of porridge or bowl of brose. +With this in one hand, and a jug of milk in the other, she soon +returned, placing them like a peace-offering on the table before him. +Having completed the arrangement by the addition of a horn spoon from a +cupboard in the wall, she again retired in silence. The moment she +vanished Thomas's blue bonnet was thrown into a corner, and with folded +hands and bent head he prayed a silent prayer over his homely meal. + +By this time Alec and Curly, having received sufficient instruction +from George Macwha, were in full swing with their boat-building. But +the moment Thomas went, Alec, had taken Annie to the forge to get her +well-dried, before he would allow her to occupy her old place in the +heap of spales. + +"Wha's preachin' at the missionar-kirk the morn, Willie?" asked the +boy's father, For Willie knew everything that took place in Glamerton. + +"Mr Broon," answered Curly. + +"He's a guid man that, ony gait," returned his father. "There's nae +mony like him. I think I'll turn missionar mysel', for ance and awa', +and gang and hear him the morn's nicht." + +At the same instant Annie entered the shop, her face glowing with the +heat of the forge and the pleasure of rejoining her friends. Her +appearance turned the current, and no more was said about the +missionar-kirk.--Many minutes did not pass before she had begun to +repeat to the eager listeners one of the two new poems which she had +got ready for them from the book Miss Cowie had lent her. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + +Whatever effect the remonstrances of Thomas might or might not have +upon the rest, Annie had heard enough to make her want to go to the +missionar-kirk. For was it not plain that Thomas Crann knew something +that she did not know? and where could he have learned it but at the +said kirk? There must be something going on there worth looking into. +Perhaps there she might learn just what she needed to know; for, happy +as she was, she would have been much happier had it not been for a +something--she could neither describe nor understand it--which always +rose between her and the happiness. She did not lay the blame on +circumstances, though they might well, in her case, have borne a part +of it. Whatever was, to her was right; and she never dreamed of +rebelling against her position. For she was one of those simple +creatures who perceive at once that if they are to set anything right +for themselves or other people, they must begin with their own selves, +their inward being and life. So without knowing that George Macwha +intended to be there, with no expectation of seeing Alec or Curly, and +without having consulted any of the Bruce family, she found herself, a +few minutes after the service had commenced, timidly peering through +the inner door of the chapel, and starting back, with mingled shyness +and awe, from the wide solemnity of the place. Every eye seemed to have +darted upon her the moment she made a chink of light between the door +and its post. How spiritually does every child-nature feel the +solemnity of the place where people, of whatever belief or whatever +intellectual rank, meet to worship God! The air of the temple belongs +to the poorest meeting-room as much as to the grandest cathedral. And +what added to the effect on Annie was, that the reputation of Mr Brown +having drawn a great congregation to hear him preach that evening, she, +peeping through the door, saw nothing but live faces; whereas Mr +Cowie's church, to which she was in the habit of going, though much +larger, was only so much the more empty. She withdrew in dismay to go +up into the gallery, where, entering from behind, she would see fewer +faces, and might creep unperceived into the shelter of a pew; for she +felt "little better than one of the wicked" in having arrived late. So +she stole up the awful stair and into the wide gallery, as a chidden +dog might steal across the room to creep under the master's table. Not +daring to look up, she went with noiseless difficulty down a steep step +or two, and perched herself timidly on the edge of a seat, beside an +old lady, who had kindly made room for her. When she ventured to lift +her eyes, she found herself in the middle of a sea of heads. But she +saw in the same glance that no one was taking any notice of her, which +discovery acted wonderfully as a restorative. The minister was reading, +in a solemn voice, a terrible chapter of denunciation out of the +prophet Isaiah, and Annie was soon seized with a deep listening awe. +The severity of the chapter was, however, considerably mollified by the +gentleness of the old lady, who put into her hand a Bible, smelling +sweetly of dried starry leaves and southernwood, in which Annie +followed the reading word for word, feeling sadly condemned if she +happened to allow her eyes to wander for a single moment from the book. +After the long prayer, during which they all stood--a posture certainly +more reverential than the sitting which so commonly passes for +kneeling--and the long psalm, during which they all sat, the sermon +began; and again for a moment Annie ventured to look up, feeling +protected from behind by the back of the pew, which reached high above +her head. Before her she saw no face but that of the minister, between +which and her, beyond the front of the gallery, lay a gulfy space, +where, down in the bottom, sat other listening souls, with upturned +faces and eyes, unseen of Annie, all their regards converging upon the +countenance of the minister. He was a thin-faced cadaverous man, with a +self-severe saintly look, one to whom religion was clearly a reality, +though not so clearly a gladness, one whose opinions-vague +half-monstrous embodiments of truth--helped to give him a consciousness +of the life which sprung from a source far deeper than his +consciousness could reach. I wonder if one will ever be able to +understand the worship of his childhood--that revering upward look +which must have been founded on a reality, however much after +experience may have shown the supposed grounds of reverence to be +untenable. The moment Annie looked in the face of Mr Brown, she +submitted absolutely; she enshrined him and worshipped him with an +awful reverence. Nor to the end of her days did she lose this feeling +towards him. True, she came to see that he was a man of ordinary +stature, and that some of the religious views which he held in common +with his brethren were dishonouring of God, and therefore could not be +elevating to the creature. But when she saw these and other like facts, +they gave her no shock--they left the reflex of the man in her mind +still unspotted, unimpaired. How could this be? Simply because they +left unaltered the conviction that this man believed in God, and that +the desire of his own heart brought him into some real, however +undefinable, relation to him who was yet nearer to him than that desire +itself, and whose presence had caused its birth. + +He chose for his text these words of the Psalmist: "The wicked shall be +turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." His sermon was +less ponderous in construction and multitudinous in division than +usual; for it consisted simply of answers to the two questions: "Who +are the wicked?" and "What is their fate?" The answer to the former +question was, "The wicked are those that forget God;" the answer to the +latter, "The torments of everlasting fire." Upon Annie the sermon +produced the immediate conviction that she was one of the wicked, and +that she was in danger of hell-fire. The distress generated by the +earlier part of the sermon, however, like that occasioned by the +chapter of prophecy, was considerably mitigated by the kindness of an +unknown hand, which, appearing occasionally over her shoulder from +behind, kept up a counteractive ministration of peppermint lozenges. +But the representations grew so much in horror as the sermon approached +its end, that, when at last it was over, and Annie drew one long breath +of exhaustion, hardly of relief, she became aware that the peppermint +lozenge which had been given her a quarter of an hour before, was lying +still undissolved in her mouth. + +What had added considerably to the effect of the preacher's words, was +that, in the middle of the sermon, she had, all at once, caught sight +of the face of George Macwha diagonally opposite to her, his eyes +looking like ears with the intensity of his listening. Nor did the +rather comical episode of the snuffing of the candles in the least +interfere with the solemnity of the tragic whole. The gallery was +lighted by three _coronoe_ of tallow candles, which, persisting in +growing long-nosed and dim-sighted, had, at varying periods, according +as the necessity revealed itself to a certain half-witted individual of +the congregation, to be _snodded_ laboriously. Without losing a word +that the preacher uttered, Annie watched the process intently. What +made it ludicrous was, that the man, having taken up his weapon with +the air of a pious executioner, and having tipped the chandelier +towards him, began, from the operation of some occult sympathy, to open +the snuffers and his own mouth simultaneously; and by the time the +black devouring jaws of the snuffers had reached their full stretch, +his own jaws had become something dragonlike and hideous to +behold--when both shut with a convulsive snap. Add to this that he was +long-sighted and often missed a candle several times before he +succeeded in snuffing it, whereupon the whole of the opening and +shutting process had to be repeated, sometimes with no other result +than that of snuffing the candle out, which had then to be pulled from +its socket and applied to the next for re-illumination. But nothing +could be farther from Annie's mood than a laugh or even a smile, though +she gazed as if she were fascinated by the snuffers, which were +dreadfully like one of the demons in a wood-cut of the Valley of the +Shadow of Death in the _Pilgrim's Progress_ without boards, which had +belonged to her father. + +When all had ceased--when the prayer, the singing, and the final +benediction were over, Annie crept out into the dark street as if into +the Outer Darkness. She felt the rain falling upon something hot, but +she hardly knew that it was her own cheeks that were being wetted by +the heavy drops. Her first impulse was to run to Alec and Curly, put +her arms about their necks, and entreat them to flee from the wrath to +come. But she could not find them to-night. She must go home. For +herself she was not much afraid; for there was a place where prayer was +heard as certainly as at the mercy-seat of old--a little garret room +namely, with holes in the floor, out of which came rats; but with a +door as well, in at which came the prayed-for cat. + +But alas for poor Annie and her chapel-going! As she was creeping +slowly up from step to step in the dark, the feeling came over her that +it was no longer against rats, nor yet against evil things dwelling in +the holes and corners of a neglected human world, that she had to pray. +A spiritual terror was seated on the throne of the universe, and was +called God--and to whom should she pray against it? Amidst the +darkness, a deeper darkness fell. + +She knelt by her bedside, but she could not lift up her heart; for was +she not one of them that forget God? and was she not therefore wicked? +and was not God angry with her every day? Was not the fact that she +could not pray a certain proof that she was out of God's favour, and +counted unworthy of his notice? + +But there was Jesus Christ: she would cry to him. But did she believe +in him? She tried hard to convince herself that she did; but at last +she laid her weary head on the bed, and groaned in her young despair. +At the moment a rustling in the darkness broke the sad silence with a +throb of terror. She started to her feet. She was exposed to all the +rats in the universe now, for God was angry with her, and she could not +pray. With a stifled scream she darted to the door, and half tumbled +down the stair in an agony of fear. + +"What gars ye mak sic a din i' the hoose o' the Sawbath nicht?" +screamed Mrs Bruce. + +But little did Annie feel the reproof. And as little did she know that +the dreaded rats had this time been the messengers of God to drive her +from a path in which lies madness. + +She was forced at length to go to bed, where God made her sleep and +forget him, and the rats did not come near her again that night. + +Curly and Alec had been in the chapel too, but they were not of a +temperament to be disturbed by Mr Brown's discourse. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + +Little as Murdoch Malison knew of the worlds of thought and +feeling--Annie's among the rest--which lay within those young faces and +forms assembled the next day as usual, he knew almost as little of the +mysteries that lay within himself. + +Annie was haunted all day with the thought of the wrath of God. When +she forgot it for a moment, it would return again with a sting of +actual physical pain, which seemed to pierce her heart. Before school +was over she had made up her mind what to do. + +And before school was over Malison's own deed had opened his own eyes, +had broken through the crust that lay between him and the vision of his +own character. + +There is not to be found a more thorough impersonation of his own +theology than a Scotch schoolmaster of the rough old-fashioned type. +His pleasure was law, irrespective of right or wrong, and the reward of +submission to law was immunity from punishment. He had his favourites +in various degrees, whom he chose according to inexplicable directions +of feeling ratified by "the freedom of his own will." These found it +easy to please him, while those with whom he was not primarily pleased, +found it impossible to please him. + +Now there had come to the school, about a fortnight before, two +unhappy-looking little twin orphans, with white thin faces, and bones +in their clothes instead of legs and arms, committed to the mercies of +Mr Malison by their grandfather. Bent into all the angles of a +grasshopper, and lean with ancient poverty, the old man tottered away +with his stick in one hand, stretched far out to support his stooping +frame, and carried in the other the caps of the two forsaken urchins, +saying, as he went, in a quavering, croaking voice, + +"I'll jist tak them wi' me, or they'll no be fit for the Sawbath aboon +a fortnicht. They're terrible laddies to blaud (spoil) their claes!" + +Turning with difficulty when he had reached the door, he added: + +"Noo ye jist gie them their whups weel, Master Mailison, for ye ken +that he that spareth the rod blaudeth the bairn." + +Thus authorized, Malison certainly did "gie them their whups weel." +Before the day was over they had both lain shrieking on the floor under +the torture of the lash. And such poor half-clothed, half-fed creatures +they were, and looked so pitiful and cowed, that one cannot help +thinking it must have been for his own glory rather than their good +that he treated them thus. + +But, in justice to Malison, another fact must be mentioned, which, +although inconsistent with the one just recorded, was in perfect +consistency with the theological subsoil whence both sprang. After +about a week, during which they had been whipt almost every day, the +orphans came to school with a cold and a terrible cough. Then his +observant pupils saw the man who was both cruel judge and cruel +executioner, feeding his victims with liquorice till their faces were +stained with its exuberance. + +The old habits of severity, which had been in some measure intermitted, +had returned upon him with gathered strength, and this day Anne was to +be one of the victims. For although he would not dare to whip her, he +was about to incur the shame of making this day, pervaded as it was, +through all its spaces of time and light, with the fumes of the sermon +she had heard the night before, the most wretched day that Anne's sad +life had yet seen. Indeed, although she afterwards passed many more +sorrowful days, she never had to pass one so utterly miserable. The +spirits of the pit seemed to have broken loose and filled Murdoch +Malison's school-room with the stench of their fire and brimstone. + +As she sat longing for school to be over, that she might follow a plan +which had a glimmer of hope in it, stupified with her labouring +thoughts, and overcome with wretchedness, she fell fast asleep. She was +roused by a smart blow from the taws, flung with unerring aim at the +back of her bare bended neck. She sprang up with a cry, and, tottering +between sleep and terror, proceeded at once to take the leather snake +back to the master. But she would have fallen in getting over the form +had not Alec caught her in his arms. He re-seated her, and taking the +taws from her trembling hand, carried it himself to the tyrant. Upon +him Malison's fury, breaking loose, expended itself in a dozen blows on +the right hand, which Alec held up without flinching. As he walked to +his seat, burning with pain, the voice of the master sounded behind +him; but with the decree it uttered, Alec did not feel himself at +liberty to interfere. + +"Ann Anderson," he bawled, "stand up on the seat." + +With trembling limbs, Annie obeyed. She could scarcely stand at first, +and the form shook beneath her. For some time her colour kept +alternating between crimson and white, but at last settled into a +deadly pallor. Indeed, it was to her a terrible punishment to be +exposed to the looks of all the boys and girls in the school. The elder +Bruce tried hard to make her see one of his vile grimaces, but, feeling +as if every nerve in her body were being stung with eyes, she never +dared to look away from the book which she held upside down before her +own sightless eyes.--This pillory was the punishment due to falling +asleep, as hell was the punishment for forgetting God; and there she +had to stand for a whole hour. + +"_What a shame! Damn that Malison!_" and various other subdued +exclamations were murmured about the room; for Annie was a favourite +with most of the boys, and yet more because she was the General's +sweetheart, as they said; but these ebullitions of popular feeling were +too faint to reach her ears and comfort her isolation and exposure. +Worst of all, she had soon to behold, with every advantage of position, +an outbreak of the master's temper, far more painful than she had yet +seen, both from its cruelty and its consequences. + +A small class of mere children, amongst whom were the orphan Truffeys, +had been committed to the care of one of the bigger boys, while the +master was engaged with another class. Every boy in the latter had +already had his share of _pandies_, when a noise in the children's +class attracting the master's attention, he saw one of the Truffeys hit +another boy in the face. He strode upon him at once, and putting no +question as to provocation, took him by the neck, fixed it between his +knees, and began to lash him with hissing blows. In his agony, the +little fellow contrived to twist his head about and get a mouthful of +the master's leg, inserting his teeth in a most canine and praiseworthy +manner. The master caught him up, and dashed him on the floor. There +the child lay motionless. Alarmed, and consequently cooled, Malison +proceeded to lift him. He was apparently lifeless; but he had only +fainted with pain. When he came to himself a little, it was found that +his leg was hurt. It appeared afterwards that the knee-cap was greatly +injured. Moaning with pain, he was sent home on the back of a big +parish scholar. + +At all this Anne stared from her pillory with horror. The feeling that +God was angry with her grew upon her; and Murdoch Malison became for a +time inseparably associated with her idea of God, frightfully +bewildering all her aspirations. + +The master still looked uneasy, threw the _tag_ into his desk, and beat +no one more that day. Indeed, only half an hour of school-time was +left. As soon as that was over, he set off at a swinging pace for the +old grandfather's cottage. + +What passed there was never known. The other Truffey came to school the +next day as usual, and told the boys that his brother was in bed. In +that bed he lay for many weeks, and many were the visits the master +paid him. This did much with the townsfolk to wipe away his reproach. +They spoke of the affair as an unfortunate accident, and pitied the +schoolmaster even more than the sufferer. + +When at length the poor boy was able to leave his bed, it became +apparent that, either through unskilful treatment, or as the +unavoidable result of the injury, he would be a cripple for life. + +The master's general behaviour was certainly modified by this +consequence of his fury; but it was some time before the full reaction +arrived. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + +When Annie descended from her hateful eminence, just before the final +prayer, it was with a deeper sense of degradation than any violence of +the tawse on her poor little hands could have produced. Nor could the +attentions of Alec, anxiously offered as soon as they were out of +school, reach half so far to console her as they might once have +reached; for such was her sense of condemnation, that she dared not +take pleasure in anything. Nothing else was worth minding till +something was done about that. The thought of having God against her +took the heart out of everything.--As soon as Alec left her, she walked +with hanging head, pale face, and mournful eyes, straight to Mr Cowie's +door. + +She was admitted at once, and shown into the library, where the +clergyman sat in the red dusky glow of the firelight, sipping a glass +of wine, and looking very much like an ox-animal chewing the cud; for +the meditation in which the good man indulged over his wine was seldom +worthy of being characterized otherwise than as mental rumination. + +"Well, Annie, my dear, come away," said he, "I am glad to see you. How +does the boat get on?" + +Deeply touched by a kindness which fell like dew upon the parching +misery of the day, Annie burst into tears. Mr Cowie was greatly +distressed. He drew her between his knees, laid his cheek against hers, +as was his way with children, and said with soothing tenderness: + +"Walawa! what's the matter with my dawtie?" + +After some vain attempts at speech, Annie succeeded in giving the +following account of the matter, much interrupted with sobs and fresh +outbursts of weeping. + +"Ye see, sir, I gaed last nicht to the missionar kirk to hear Mr Broon. +And he preached a gran' sermon, sir. But I haena been able to bide +mysel' sin' syne. For I doobt I'm ane o' the wicked 'at God hates, and +I'll never win' to haven at a', for I canna help forgettin' him whiles. +An' the wicked'll be turned into hell, and a' the nations that forget +God. That was his text, sir. And I canna bide it." + +In the bosom of the good man rose a gentle indignation against the +schismatics who had thus terrified and bewildered that sacred being, a +maid-child. But what could he say? He thought for a moment, and betook +himself, in his perplexity, to his common sense. + +"You haven't forgotten your father, have you, Annie?" said he. + +"I think aboot him maist ilka day," answered Annie. + +"But there comes a day now and then when you don't think much about +him, does there not?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Do you think he would be angry with his child because she was so much +taken up with her books or her play---" + +"I never play at onything, sir." + +"Well--with learning songs to say to Alec Forbes and Willie Macwha--do +you think he would be angry that you didn't think about him that day, +especially when you can't see him?" + +"'Deed no, sir. He wadna be sae sair upo' me as that." + +"What would he say, do you think?" + +"Gin Mr Bruce war to cast it up till me, he wad say: 'Lat alane the +lassie. She'll think aboot me the morn--time eneuch.'" + +"Well, don't you think your Father in heaven would say the same?" + +"Maybe he micht, sir. But ye see my father was my ain father, and wad +mak' the best o' me." + +"And is not God kinder than your father?" + +"He canna weel be that, sir. And there's the Scripter!" + +"But he sent his only Son to die for us." + +"Ay--for the eleck, sir," returned the little theologian. + +Now this was more than Mr Cowie was well prepared to meet, for +certainly this terrible doctrine was perfectly developed in the creed +of the Scotch Church; the assembly of divines having sat upon the +Scripture egg till they had hatched it in their own likeness. Poor Mr +Cowie! There were the girl-eyes, blue, and hazy with tearful questions, +looking up at him hungrily.--O starving little brothers and sisters! +God does love you, and all shall be, and therefore is, well.--But the +minister could not say this, gladly as he would have said it if he +could; and the only result of his efforts to find a suitable reply was +that he lost his temper--not with Annie, but with the doctrine of +election. + +"Gang ye hame, Annie, my bairn," said he, talking Scotch now, "and +dinna trouble yer heid about election, and a' that. It's no' a canny +doctrine. No mortal man could ever win at the boddom o' 't. I'm +thinkin' we haena muckle to do w' 't. Gang hame, dawtie, and say yer +prayers to be preserved frae the wiles o' Sawtan. There 's a sixpence +to ye." + +His kind heart was sorely grieved that all it could give was money. She +had asked for bread, and he had but a stone, as he thought, to give +her. So he gave it her with shame. He might however have reversed the +words of St Peter, saying, "Spiritual aid I have none, but such as I +have give I thee;" and so offered her the sixpence. But, for my part, I +think the sixpence had more of bread in it than any theology he might +have been expected to have at hand; for, so given, it was the symbol +and the sign of love, which is the heart of the divine theology. + +Annie, however, had a certain Scotchness in her which made her draw +back from the offer. + +"Na, thank ye, sir," she said; "I dinna want it." + +"Will ye no tak' it to please an auld man, bairn?" + +"Deed will I, sir, I wad do a hantle mair nor that to please you." + +And again the tears filled her blue eyes as she held out her +hand--receiving in it a shilling which Mr Cowie, for more relief to his +own burdened heart, had substituted for the sixpence. + +"It's a shillin', sir!" she said, looking up at him with the coin lying +on her open palm. + +"Weel, what for no? Is a shillin' no a saxpence?" + +"Ay, sir. It's twa." + +"Weel, Annie," said the old man, suddenly elevated into prophecy for +the child's need--for he had premeditated nothing of the sort--"maybe +whan God offers us a saxpence, it may turn oot to be twa. Good nicht, +my bairn." + +But Mr Cowie was sorely dissatisfied with himself. For not only did he +perceive that the heart of the child could not be thus satisfied, but +he began to feel something new stirring in his own bosom. The fact was +that Annie was further on than Mr Cowie. She was a child looking about +to find the face of her Father in heaven: he was but one of God's +babies, who had been lying on his knees, receiving contentedly and +happily the good things he gave him, but never looking up to find the +eyes of him from whom the good gifts came. And now the heart of the old +man, touched by the motion of the child's heart--yearning after her +Father in heaven, and yet scarcely believing that he could be so good +as her father on earth--began to stir uneasily within him. And he went +down on his knees and hid his face in his hands. + +But Annie, though not satisfied, went away comforted. After such a day +of agony and humiliation, Mr Cowie's kiss came gracious with +restoration and blessing. It had something in it which was not in Mr +Brown's sermon. And yet if she had gone to Mr Brown, she would have +found him kind too--very kind; but solemnly kind--severely kind; his +long saintly face beaming with religious tenderness--not human +cordiality; and his heart full of interest in her spiritual condition, +not sympathy with the unhappiness which his own teaching had produced; +nay, rather inclined to gloat over this unhappiness as the sign of +grace bestowed and an awakening conscience. + +But notwithstanding the comfort Mr Cowie had given her--the best he +had, poor man!--Annie's distress soon awoke again. To know that she +could not be near God in peace and love without fulfilling certain +mental conditions--that he would not have her just as she was now, +filled her with an undefined but terribly real misery, only the more +distressing that it was vague with the vagueness of the dismal negation +from which it sprung. + +It was not however the strength of her love to God that made her +unhappy in being thus barred out from him. It was rather the check thus +given to the whole upward tendency of her being, with its multitude of +undefined hopes and longings now drawing nigh to the birth. It was in +her ideal self rather than her conscious self that her misery arose. +And now, dearly as she loved Mr Cowie, she began to doubt whether he +knew much about the matter. He had put her off without answering her +questions, either because he thought she had no business with such +things, or because he had no answer to give. This latter possibly added +not a little to her unhappiness, for it gave birth to a fearful doubt +as to the final safety of kind Mr Cowie himself. + +But there was one man who knew more about such secret things, she fully +believed, than any man alive; and that man was Thomas Crann. Thomas was +a rather dreadful man, with his cold eyes, high shoulders, and wheezing +breath; and Annie was afraid of him. But she would have encountered the +terrors of the Valley of the Shadow of Death, as surely as the Pilgrim, +to get rid of the demon nightmare that lay upon her bosom, crushing the +life out of her heart. So she plucked up courage, like Christian of +old, and resolved to set out for the house of the Interpreter. Judging, +however, that he could not yet be home from his work, she thought it +better to go home herself first. + +After eating a bit of oat cake, with a mug of blue milk for _kitchie_ +(Latin "obsonium"), she retired to her garret and waited drearily, but +did not try to pray. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + +It was very dark by the time she left the house, for the night was +drizzly; but she knew the windings of Glamerton almost as well as the +way up her garret-stair. Thomas's door was half open, and a light was +shining from the kitchen. She knocked timidly. At the same moment she +heard the voice of Thomas from the other end of this house, which +consisted only of a _but and a ben_. In the ben-end (the inner +originally, hence better room) there was no light: Thomas often sat in +the dark. + +"Jean, come ben to worship," he cried roughly. + +"Comin', Thamas," answered Jean. + +Again Annie knocked, but again without result. Her knock was too +gentle. After a moment's pause, dreading that the intended prayers +might interfere with her project, she knocked yet again; but a second +time her knock was overwhelmed in the gruff call of Thomas, sounding +yet more peremptory than before. + +"Jean, come ben to worship." + +"Hoot, Thamas, hae patience, man. I canna come." + +"Jean, come ben to worship direckly." + +"I'm i' the mids' o' cleanin' the shune. I hae dooble wark o' Mononday, +ye ken." + +"The shune can bide." + +"Worship can bide." + +"Haud yer tongue. The shune can bide." + +"Na, na; they canna bide." + +"Gin ye dinna come ben this minute, I'll hae worship my lane." + +Vanquished by the awful threat, Jean dropped the shoe she held, and +turned her apron; but having to pass the door on her way to the +ben-end, she saw Annie standing on the threshold, and stopped with a +start, ejaculating: + +"The Lord preserve's, lassie!" + +"Jean, what are ye sweerin' at?" cried Thomas, angrily. + +"At Annie Anderson," answered Jean simply. + +"What for are ye sweerin' at _her_? I'm sure she's a douce lassie. What +does the bairn want?" + +"What do ye want, Annie?" + +"I want to see Thomas, gin ye please," answered Annie. + +"She wants to see you, Thomas," screamed Jean; remarking in a lower +voice, "He's as deef's a door-nail, Annie Anderson." + +"Lat her come in, than," bawled Thomas. + +"He's tellin' ye to come in, Annie," said Jean, as if she had been +interpreting his words. But she detained her nevertheless to ask +several unimportant questions. At length the voice of Thomas rousing +her once more, she hastened to introduce her. + +"Gang in there, Annie," she said, throwing open the door of the dark +room. The child entered and stood just within it, not knowing even +where Thomas sat. But a voice came to her out of the gloom: + +"Ye're no feared at the dark, are ye, Annie? Come in." + +"I dinna ken whaur I'm gaein." + +"Never min' that. Come straucht foret. I'm watchin' ye." + +For Thomas had been sitting in the dark till he could see in it (which, +however, is not an invariable result), while out of the little light +Annie had come into none at all But she obeyed the voice, and went +straight forward into the dark, evidently much to the satisfaction of +Thomas, who seizing her arm with one hand, laid the other, horny and +heavy, on her head, saying: + +"Noo, my lass, ye'll ken what faith means. Whan God tells ye to gang +into the mirk, gang!" + +"But I dinna like the mirk," said Annie. + +"No human sowl _can_," responded Thomas. "Jean, fess a can'le +direckly." + +Now Thomas was an enemy to everything that could be, justly or +unjustly, called _superstition_; and this therefore was not the answer +that might have been expected of him. But he had begun with the +symbolic and mystical in his reception of Annie, and perhaps there was +something in the lovely childishness of her unconscious faith (while +she all the time thought herself a dreadful unbeliever) that kept +Thomas to the simplicities of the mystical part of his nature. Besides, +Thomas's mind was a rendezvous for all extremes. In him they met, and +showed that they met by fighting all day long. If you knocked at his +inner door, you never could tell what would open it to you--all +depending on what happened to be _uppermost_ in the wrestle. + +The candle was brought and set on the table, showing two or three +geranium plants in the window. Why her eyes should have fixed upon +these, Annie tried to discover afterwards, when she was more used to +thinking. But she could not tell, except it were that they were so +scraggy and wretched, half drowned in the darkness, and half blanched +by the miserable light, and therefore must have been very like her own +feelings, as she stood before the ungentle but not unkind stone-mason. + +"Weel, lassie," said he, when Jean had retired, "what do ye want wi' +me?" + +Annie burst into tears again. + +"Jean, gae butt the hoose direckly," cried Thomas, on the mere chance +of his attendant having lingered at the door. And the sound of her +retreating footsteps, though managed with all possible care, +immediately justified his suspicion. This interruption turned Annie's +tears aside, and when Thomas spoke next, she was able to reply. + +"Noo, my bairn," he said, "what's the maitter?" + +"I was at the missionar kirk last nicht," faltered Annie. + +"Ay! And the sermon took a grip o' ye?--Nae doot, nae doot. Ay. Ay." + +"I canna help forgettin' _him_, Thomas." + +"But ye maun try and no forget him, lassie." + +"Sae I do. But it's dour wark, and 'maist impossible." + +"Sae it maun aye be; to the auld Aidam impossible; to the young +Christian a weary watch." + +Hope began to dawn upon Annie. + +"A body micht hae a chance," she asked with meditative suggestion, +"allooin' 'at she did forget him whiles?" + +"Nae doot, lassie. The nations that forget God are them that dinna +care, that never fash their heids, or their herts aither, aboot +him--them that were never called, never chosen." + +Annie's trouble returned like a sea-wave that had only retired to +gather strength. + +"But hoo's a body to ken whether she _be_ ane o' the elec'?" she said, +quaking. + +"That's a hard maitter. It's no needfu' to ken't aforehan'. Jist lat +that alane i' the mean time." + +"But I canna lat it alane. It's no for mysel' aither a'thegither. Could +_ye_ lat it alane, Thomas?" + +This home-thrust prevented any questioning about the second clause of +her answer. And Thomas dearly loved plain dealing. + +"Ye hae me there, lassie. Na, I cudna lat it alane. An' I never did lat +it alane. I plaguit the Lord nicht an' day till he loot me ken." + +"I tried hard last nicht," said Annie, "but the rottans war ower mony +for me." + +"Sawtan has mony wiles," said the mason reflectively. + +"Do ye think they warna rottans?' asked Annie. + +"Ow! nae doot. I daursay." + +"'Cause, gin I thocht they war only deils, I wadna care a buckie +(periwinkle) for them." + +"It's muckle the same what ye ca' them, gin they ca you frae the throne +o' grace, lassie." + +"What am I to do than, Thomas?" + +"Ye maun haud at it, lassie, jist as the poor widow did wi' the unjust +judge. An' gin the Lord hears ye, ye'll ken ye're ane o' the elec', for +it's only his own elec' that the Lord dis hear. Eh! lassie, little ye +ken aboot prayin' an' no faintin'." + +Alas for the parable if Thomas's theories were to be carried out in its +exposition! For they would lead to the conclusion that the Lord and the +unjust judge were one and the same person. But it is our divine +aspirations and not our intellectual theories that need to be carried +out. The latter may, nay must in some measure, perish; the former will +be found in perfect harmony with the divine Will; yea, true though +faint echoes of that Will--echoes from the unknown caves of our deepest +humanity, where lies, yet swathed in darkness, the divine image. + +To Thomas's words Annie's only reply was a fixed gaze, which he +answered thus, resuming his last words: + +"Ay, lassie, little ye ken aboot watchin' and prayin'. Whan it pleased +the Lord to call me, I was stan'in' my lane i' the mids' o' a +peat-moss, luikin' wast, whaur the sun had left a reid licht ahin him, +as gin he had jist brunt oot o' the lift, an' hadna gane doon ava. An' +it min'd me o' the day o' jeedgment. An' there I steid and luikit, till +the licht itsel' deid oot, an' naething was left but a gray sky an' a +feow starns intil't. An' the cloods gethered, an' the lift grew black +an' mirk; an' the haill countryside vainished, till I kent no more +aboot it than what my twa feet could answer for. An' I daurna muv for +the fear o' the pits o' water an' the walleen (well-eyes--quagmire-springs) +on ilka han'. The lee-lang nicht I stood, or lay, or kneeled upo' my +k-nees, cryin' to the Lord for grace. I forgot a' aboot election, an' +cried jist as gin I could gar him hear me by haudin' at him. An' i' the +mornin', whan the licht cam', I faund that my face was to the risin' +sun. And I crap oot o' the bog, an' hame to my ain hoose. An' ilka body +'at I met o' the road took the tither side o' 't, and glowert at me as +gin I had been a ghaist or a warlock. An' the bairns playin' aboot the +doors ran in like rabbits whan they got sicht o' me. An' I begud to +think 'at something fearsome had signed me for a reprobate; an' I jist +closed my door, and gaed to my bed, and loot my wark stan', for wha cud +wark wi' damnation hingin' ower his heid? An' three days gaed ower me, +that nothing passed my lips but a drap o' milk an' water. An' o' the +fourth day, i' the efternoon, I gaed to my wark wi' my heid swimmin' +and my hert like to brak for verra glaidness. I _was_ ane o' the +chosen.["] + +"But hoo did ye fin' that oot, Thomas?" asked Annie, trembling. + +"Weel, lassie," answered Thomas, with solemn conviction in every tone, +"it's my firm belief that, say what they like, there is, and there can +be, but _one_ way o' comin' to the knowledge o' that secret." + +"And what's that?" entreated Annie, whose life seemed to hang upon his +lips. + +"Jist this. Get a sicht o' the face o' God.--It's my belief, an' a' the +minnisters in creation'll no gar me alter my min', that no man can get +a glimp' o' the face o' God but ane o' the chosen. I'm no sayin' 'at a +man's no ane o' the elec' that hasna had that favour vouchsaufed to +_him_; but this I _do_ say, that he canna ken his election wi'oot that. +Try ye to get a sicht o' the face o' God, lassie: syne ye'll ken and be +at peace. Even Moses himsel' cudna be saitisfeed wi'oot that." + +"What is't like, Thomas?" said Annie, with an eagerness which awe made +very still. + +"No words can tell that. It's all in the speerit. Whan ye see't ye'll +ken't. There's no fear o' mistakin' _that_." + +Teacher and scholar were silent. Annie was the first to speak. She had +gained her quest. + +"Am I to gang hame noo, Thomas?" + +"Ay, gang hame, lassie, to yer prayers. But I doobt it's dark. I'll +gang wi' ye.--Jean, my shune!" + +"Na, na; I could gang hame blinlins," remonstrated Annie. + +"Haud yer tongue. I'm gaein hame wi' ye, bairn.--Jean, my shune!" + +"Hoot, Thamas! I've jist cleaned them," screeched Jean from the kitchen +at the second call. + +"Fess them here direckly. It's a jeedgment on ye for sayin' worship cud +bide better nor the shune." + +Janet brought them and put them down sulkily. In another minute the +great shoes, full of nails half an inch broad, were replaced on the +tired feet, and with her soft little hand clasped in the great horny +hand of the stonemason, Annie trotted home by his side. With Scotch +caution, Thomas, as soon as they entered the shop, instead of taking +leave of Annie, went up to the counter, and asked for an "unce o' +tobawco," as if his appearance along with Annie were merely accidental; +while Annie, with perfect appreciation of the reticence, ran through +the gap in the counter. + +She was so far comforted and so much tired, that she fell asleep at her +prayers by the bedside. Presently she awoke in terror. It was Pussy +however that had waked her, as she knew by the green eyes lamping in a +corner. But she closed her prayers rather abruptly, clambered into bed, +and was soon fast asleep. + +And in her sleep she dreamed that she stood in the darkness of the same +peat-moss which had held Thomas and his prayers all the night long. She +thought she was _kept in_ there, till she should pray enough to get +herself out of it. And she tried hard to pray, but she could not. And +she fell down in despair, beset with the terrors of those frightful +holes full of black water which she had seen on her way to Glamerton. +But a hand came out of the darkness, laid hold of hers, and lifting her +up, led her through the bog. And she dimly saw the form that led her, +and it was that of a man who walked looking upon the earth. And she +tried to see his face, but she could not, for he walked ever a little +before her. And he led her home to the old farm. And her father came to +the door to meet them. And he looked just the same as in the old happy +days, only that his face was strangely bright. And with the joy of +seeing her father she awoke to a gentle sorrow that she had not seen +also the face of her deliverer. + +The next evening she wandered down to George Macwha's, and found the +two boys at work. She had no poetry to give them, no stories to tell +them, no answer to their questions as to where she had been the night +before. She could only stand in silence and watch them. The skeleton of +the boat grew beneath their hands, but it was on the workers and not on +their work that her gaze was fixed. For her heart was burning within +her, and she could hardly restrain herself from throwing her arms about +their necks and imploring them to seek the face of God. Oh! if she only +knew that Alec and Curly were of the elect! But they only could find +that out. There was no way for her to peer into that mystery. All she +could do was to watch their wants, to have the tool they needed next +ready to their hand, to clear away the spales from before the busy +plane, and to lie in wait for any chance of putting to her little +strength to help. Perhaps they were not of the elect! She would +minister to them therefore--oh, how much the more tenderly! + +"What's come ower Annie?" said the one to the other when she had gone. + +But there was no answer to be found to the question. Could they have +understood her if she had told them what had come over her? + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + + +And so the time went on, slow-paced, with its silent destinies Annie +said her prayers, read her Bible, and tried not to forget God. Ah! +could she only have known that God never forgot her, whether she forgot +him or not, giving her sleep in her dreary garret, gladness even in +Murdoch Malison's school-room, and the light of life everywhere! He was +now leading on the blessed season of spring, when the earth would be +almost heaven enough to those who had passed through the fierceness of +the winter. Even now, the winter, old and weary, was halting away +before the sweet approaches of the spring--a symbol of that eternal +spring before whose slow footsteps Death itself, "the winter of our +discontent," shall vanish. Death alone can die everlastingly. + +I have been diffuse in my account of Annie's first winter at school, +because what impressed her should impress those who read her history. +It is her reflex of circumstance, in a great measure, which makes that +history. In regard to this portion of her life, I have little more to +say than that by degrees the school became less irksome to her; that +she grew more interested in her work; that some of the reading-books +contained extracts which she could enjoy; and that a taste for reading +began to wake in her. If ever she came to school with her lesson +unprepared, it was because some book of travel or history had had +attractions too strong for her. And all that day she would go about +like a guilty thing, oppressed by a sense of downfall and neglected +duty. + +With Alec it was very different. He would often find himself in a +similar case; but the neglect would make no impression on his +conscience; or if it did, he would struggle hard to keep down the sense +of dissatisfaction which strove to rise within him, and enjoy himself +in spite of it. + +Annie, again, accepted such as her doom, and went about gently unhappy, +till neglect was forgotten in performance. There is nothing that can +wipe out wrong but right. + +And still she haunted George Macwha's workshop, where the boat soon +began to reveal the full grace of its lovely outlines. Of all the works +of man's hands, except those that belong to Art, a boat is the +loveliest, and, in the old sense of the word, the _liveliest_. Why is +this? Is it that it is born between Wind and Water?--Wind the father, +ever casting himself into multitudinous shapes of invisible tides, +taking beauteous form in the sweep of a "lazy-paced cloud," or +embodying a transient informing freak in the waterspout, which he draws +into his life from the bosom of his mate;--Water, the mother, visible +she, sweeping and swaying, ever making and ever unmade, the very +essence of her being--beauty, yet having no form of her own, and yet +again manifesting herself in the ceaseless generation of passing forms? +If the boat be the daughter of these, the stable child of visible and +invisible subtlety, made to live in both, and shape its steady course +between their varying and conflicting forces--if her Ideal was modelled +between the flap of airy pinions and the long ranging flow of the +serpent water, how could the lines of her form fail of grace? + +Nor in this case were the magic influences of verse wanting to mould +and model a boat which from prow to stern should be lovely and +fortunate. As Pandemonium + + "Rose like an exhalation, with the sound + Of dulcet symphonies and voices sweet," + +so the little boat grew to the sound of Annie's voice uttering not +Runic Rhymes, but old Scotch ballads, or such few sweet English poems, +of the new revelation, as floated across her way, and folded their +butterfly wings in her memory. + +I have already said that reading became a great delight to her. Mr +Cowie threw his library, with very little restriction, open to her; and +books old and new were all new to her. She carried every fresh one home +with a sense of riches and a feeling of _upliftedness_ which I can ill +describe. She gloated over the thought of it, as she held it tight in +her hand, with feelings resembling, and yet how unlike, those of Johnny +Bruce when he crept into his rabbits' barrel to devour the pennyworth +of _plunky_ (a preparation of treacle and flour) which his brother +would else have compelled him to share. Now that the days were longer, +she had plenty of time to read; for although her so-called guardians +made cutting remarks upon her idleness, they had not yet compelled her +to nursing or needlework. If she had shown the least inclination to +either, her liberty would have been gone from that moment; but, with +the fear of James Dow before their eyes, they let her alone. As to her +doing anything in the shop, she was far too much of an alien to be +allowed to minister in the lowliest office of that sacred temple of +Mammon. So she read everything she could lay her hands upon; and as +often as she found anything peculiarly interesting, she would take the +book to the boat, where the boys were always ready to listen to +whatever she brought them. And this habit made her more dircerning +[sic] and choice. + +Before I leave the school, however, I must give one more scene out of +its history. + +One mid-day in spring, just as the last of a hail-shower was passing +away, and a sickly sunbeam was struggling out, the schoolroom-door +opened, and in came Andrew Truffey, with a smile on his worn face, +which shone in touching harmony with the watery gleam of the sun +between the two hail-storms--for another was close at hand. He swung +himself in on the new pivot of his humanity, namely his crutch, which +every one who saw him believed at once he was never more to go without, +till he sank wearied on the road to the grave, and had to be carried +the rest of the way. He looked very long and deathly, for he had grown +much while lying in bed. + +The master rose hurriedly from his desk, and advanced to meet him. A +deep stillness fell upon the scholars. They dropped all their work, and +gazed at the meeting. The master held out his hand. With awkwardness +and difficulty Andrew presented the hand which had been holding the +crutch; and, not yet thoroughly used to the management of it, staggered +in consequence and would have fallen. But the master caught him in his +arms and carried him to his old seat beside his brother. + +"Thank ye, sir," said the boy with another gleamy smile, through which +his thin features and pale, prominent eyes told yet more plainly of sad +suffering--all the master's fault, as the master knew. + +"Leuk at the dominie," said Curly to Alec. "He's greitin'." + +For Mr Malison had returned to his seat and had laid his head down on +the desk, evidently to hide his emotion. + +"Haud yer tongue, Curly. Dinna leuk at him," returned Alec. "He's sorry +for poor Truffey." + +Every one behaved to the master that day with marked respect. And from +that day forward Truffey was in universal favour. + +Let me once more assert that Mr Malison was not a bad man. The +misfortune was, that his notion of right fell in with his natural +fierceness; and that, in aggravation of the too common feeling with +which he had commenced his relations with his pupils, namely, that they +were not only the natural enemies of the master, but therefore of all +law, theology had come in and taught him that they were in their own +nature bad--with a badness for which the only set-off he knew or could +introduce was blows. Independently of any remedial quality that might +be in them, these blows were an embodiment of justice; for "every sin," +as the catechism teaches, "deserveth God's wrath and curse both in this +life and that which is to come." The master therefore was only a +co-worker with God in every pandy he inflicted on his pupils. + +I do not mean that he reasoned thus, but that such-like were the +principles he had to act upon. And I must add that, with all his +brutality, he was never guilty of such cruelty as one reads of +occasionally as perpetrated by English schoolmasters of the present +day. Nor were the boys ever guilty of such cruelty to their fellows as +is not only permitted but excused in the public schools of England. The +taws, likewise, is a far less cruel instrument of torture than the +cane, which was then unknown in that region. + +And now the moderation which had at once followed upon the accident was +confirmed. Punishment became less frequent still, and where it was yet +inflicted for certain kinds and degrees of offence, its administration +was considerably less severe than formerly; till at length the boys +said that the master never put on black stockings now, except when he +was "oot o' white anes." Nor did the discipline of the school suffer in +consequence. If one wants to make a hard-mouthed horse more responsive +to the rein, he must relax the pressure and friction of the bit, and +make the horse feel that he has got to hold up his own head. If the +rider supports himself by the reins, the horse will pull. + +But the marvel was to see how Andrew Truffey haunted and dogged the +master. He was as it were a conscious shadow to him. There was no hour +of a holiday in which Truffey could not tell precisely where the master +was. If one caught sight of Andrew, _hirpling_ down a passage, or +leaning against a corner, he might be sure the master would pass within +a few minutes. And the haunting of little Truffey worked so on his +conscience, that, if the better nature of him had not asserted itself +in love to the child, he would have been compelled to leave the place. +For think of having a visible sin of your own, in the shape of a +lame-legged boy, peeping at you round every other corner! + +But he did learn to love the boy; and therein appeared the divine +vengeance--ah! how different from human vengeance!--that the outbreak +of unrighteous wrath reacted on the wrong-doer in shame, repentance, +and love. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + + +At length the boat was calked, tarred, and painted. + +One evening as Annie entered the workshop, she heard Curly cry, + +"Here she is, Alec!" + +and Alec answer, + +"Let her come. I'm just done." + +Alec stood at the stern of the boat, with a pot in one hand, and a +paint-brush in the other; and, when Annie came near, she discovered to +her surprise, and not a little to her delight, that he was just +finishing off the last E of "THE BONNIE ANNIE." + +"There," said he, "that's her name. Hoo de ye like it, Annie?" + +Annie was too much pleased to reply. She looked at it for a while with +a flush on her face: and then turning away, sought her usual seat on +the heap of spales. + +How much that one winter, with its dragons and its heroes, its +boat-building and its rhymes, its discomforts at home and its +consolations abroad, its threats of future loss, and comforts of +present hope, had done to make the wild country child into a thoughtful +little woman! + +Now who should come into the shop at the moment but Thomas Crann!--the +very man of all men not to be desired on the occasion; for the boys had +contemplated a certain ceremony of christening, which they dared not +carry out in the presence of the stone-mason; without which, however, +George Macwha was very doubtful whether the little craft would prove a +lucky one.--By common understanding they made no allusion to the +matter, thus postponing it for the present. + +"Ay! ay! Alec," said Thomas; "sae yer boat's bigget at last!" + +He stood contemplating it for a moment, not without some hardly +perceptible signs of admiration, and then said: + +"Gin ye had her out upon a muckle water, do ye think ye wad jump oot +ower the side o' her, gin the Saviour tauld ye, Alec Forbes?" + +"Ay wad I, gin I war richt sure he wantit me." + +"Ye wad stan' an' parley wi' him, nae doot?" + +"I bude (behoved) to be richt sure it was his ain sel', ye ken, an' +that he did call me." + +"Ow ay, laddie! That's a' richt. Weel, I houp ye wad. I aye had guid +houps o' ye, Alec, my man. But there may be sic a thing as loupin' into +the sea o' life oot o' the ark o' salvation; an' gin ye loup in whan he +doesna call ye, or gin ye getna a grip o' his han', whan he does, ye're +sure to droon, as sure's ane o' the swine that ran heedlong in and +perished i' the water." + +Alec had only a dim sense of his meaning, but he had faith that it was +good, and so listened in respectful silence. Surely enough of sacred as +well as lovely sound had been uttered over the boat to make her +faithful and fortunate! + +The hour arrived at length when _The Bonnie Annie_ was to be launched. +It was one of a bright Saturday afternoon, in the month of May, full of +a kind of tearful light, which seemed to say: "Here I am, but I go +to-morrow!" Yet though there might be plenty of cold weather to come, +though the hail might; fall in cart-loads, and the snow might lie thick +for a day or two, there would be no more frozen waters, and the boughs +would be bare and desolate no more. A few late primroses were peeping +from the hollows damp with moss and shadow along the banks, and the +trees by the stream were in small young leaf. There was a light wind +full of memories of past summers and promises for the new one at hand, +one of those gentle winds that blow the eyes of the flowers open, that +the earth may look at the heaven. In the midst of this baby-waking of +the world, the boat must glide into her new life. + +Alec got one of the men on the farm to _yoke a horse_ to bring the boat +to the river. With the help of George she was soon placed in the cart, +and Alec and Curly got in beside her. The little creature looked very +much like a dead fish, as she lay jolting in the hot sun, with a motion +irksome to her delicate sides, her prow sticking awkwardly over the +horse's back, and her stern projecting as far beyond the cart behind. +Thus often is the human boat borne painfully to the stream on which +thereafter it shall glide contentedly through and out of the world. + +When they had got about half-way, Alec said to Curly: + +"I wonner what's come o' Annie, Curly? It wad be a shame to lainch the +boat wantin' her." + +"Deed it wad. I s' jist rin and luik after her, an' ye can luik efter +the boat." + +So saying, Curly was out of the cart with a bound. Away he ran over a +field of potatoes, straight as the crow flies, while the cart went +slowly on towards the Glamour. + +"Whaur's Annie Anderson?" he cried, as he burst into Robert Bruce's +shop. + +"What's _your_ business?" asked the Bruce--a question which evidently +looked for no answer. + +"Alec wants her." + +"Weel, he will want her," retorted Robert, shutting his jaws with a +snap, and grinning a smileless grin from ear to ear, like the steel +clasp of a purse. By such petty behaviour he had long ago put himself +on an equality with the young rascals generally, and he was no match +for them on their own level. + +Curly left the shop at once, and went round by the close into the +garden, where he found Annie loitering up and down with the baby in her +arms, and looking very weary. This was in fact the first time she had +had to carry the baby, and it fatigued her dreadfully. Till now Mrs +Bruce had had the assistance of a ragged child, whose father owed them +money for groceries: he could not pay it, and they had taken his +daughter instead. Long ago, however, she had slaved it out, and had at +length gone back to school. The sun was hot, the baby was heavy, and +Annie felt all arms and back--they were aching so with the unaccustomed +drudgery. She was all but crying when Curly darted to the gate, his +face glowing with his run, and his eyes sparkling with excitement. + +"Come, Annie," cried he; "we're gaein' to lainch the boat." + +"I canna, Curly; I hae the bairn to min'." + +"Tak the bairn in til 'ts mither." + +"I daurna." + +"Lay't doon o' the table, an' rin." + +"Na, na, Curly; I cudna do that. Puir little crater!" + +"Is the beastie heavy?" asked Curly, with deceitful interest. + +"Dreadfu'." + +"Lat's try." + +"Ye'll lat her fa'." + +"Deed no. I'm no sae fusionless (pithless). Gie's a haud o' her." + +Annie yielded her charge; but no sooner had Curly possession of the +baby, than he bounded away with her out of the garden into the back +yard adjoining the house. Now in this yard, just opposite the +kitchen-window, there was a huge sugar-cask, which, having been +converted into a reservoir, stood under a spout, and was at this moment +half full of rain-water. Curly, having first satisfied himself that Mrs +Bruce was at work in the kitchen, and therefore sure to see him, +mounted a big stone that lay beside the barrel, and pretended to lower +the baby into the water, as if trying how much she would endure with +equanimity. In a moment, he received such a box on the ear that, had he +not been prepared for it, he would in reality have dropped the child +into the barrel. The same moment the baby was in its mother's arms, and +Curly sitting at the foot of the barrel, nursing his head, and +pretending to suppress a violent attack of weeping. The angry mother +sped into the house with her rescued child. + +No sooner had she disappeared than Curly was on his feet scudding back +to Annie, who had been staring over the garden-gate in utter +bewilderment at his behaviour. She could no longer resist his +entreaties: off she ran with him to the banks of the Glamour, where +they soon came upon Alec and the man in the act of putting the boat on +the slip, which, in the present instance, was a groove hollowed out of +a low part of the bank, so that she might glide in more gradually. + +"Hurrah! There's Annie!" cried Alec.--"Come awa', Annie. Here's a glass +o' whisky I got frae my mither to kirsten the boat. Fling't at the name +o' her." + +Annie did as she was desired, to the perfect satisfaction of all +present, particularly of the long, spare, sinewy farm-servant, who had +contrived, when Alec's back was turned, to swallow the whisky and +substitute Glamour water, which no doubt did equally well for the +purposes of the ceremony. Then with a gentle push from all, the _Bonnie +Annie_, slid into the Glamour, where she lay afloat in contented grace, +as unlike herself in the cart as a swan waddling wearily to the water +is unlike the true swan-self when her legs have no longer to support +her weight, but to oar her along through the friendly upholding +element. + +"Isna she bonnie?" cried Annie in delight. + +And indeed she was bonnie, in her green and white paint, lying like a +great water-beetle ready to scamper over the smooth surface. Alec +sprang on board, nearly upsetting the tiny craft. Then he held it by a +bush on the bank while Curly handed in Annie, who sat down in the +stern. Curly then got in himself, and Alec and him seized each an oar. + +But what with their inexperience and the nature of the channel, they +found it hard to get along. The river was full of great stones, making +narrow passages, so that, in some parts, it was not possible to row. +They knew nothing about the management of a boat, and were no more at +ease than if they had been afloat in a tub. Alec being stronger in the +arms than Curly, they went round and round for some time, as if in a +whirlpool, with a timeless and grotesque spluttering and sprawling. At +last they gave it up in weariness, and allowed the _Bonnie Annie_ to +float along the stream, taking care only to keep her off the rocks. +Past them went the banks--here steep and stony, but green with moss +where little trickling streams found their way into the channel; there +spreading into low alluvial shores, covered with lovely grass, starred +with daisies and buttercups, from which here and there rose a willow, +whose low boughs swept the water. A little while ago, they had skated +down its frozen surface, and had seen a snowy land shooting past them; +now with an unfelt gliding, they floated down, and the green meadows +dreamed away as if they would dream past them for ever.--Suddenly, as +they rounded the corner of a rock, a great roar of falling water burst +on their ears, and they started in dismay, + +"The sluice is up!" cried Alec. "Tak' to yer oar, Curly." + +Along this part of the bank, some twenty feet above them, ran a +mill-race, which a few yards lower down communicated by means of a +sluice with the river. This sluice was now open, for, from the late +rains, there was too much water; and the surplus rushed from the race +into the Glamour in a foaming cataract. Annie seeing that the boys were +uneasy, got very frightened, and, closing her eyes, sat motionless. +Louder and louder grew the tumult of the waters, till their sound +seemed to fall in a solid thunder on her brain. The boys tried hard to +row against the stream, but without avail. Slowly and surely it carried +them down into the very heart of the boiling fall; for on this side +alone was the channel deep enough for the boat, and the banks were too +steep and bare to afford any hold. At last, the boat drifting stern +foremost, a torrent of water struck Annie, and tumbled into the boat as +if it would beat out the bottom of it. Annie was tossed about in fierce +waters, and ceased to know anything. When she came to herself, she was +in an unknown bed, with the face of Mrs Forbes bending anxiously over +her. She would have risen, but Mrs Forbes told her to lie still, which +indeed Annie found much more pleasant. + +As soon as they got under the fall the boat had filled and foundered. +Alec and Curly could swim like otters, and were out of the pool at +once. As they went down, Alec had made a plunge to lay hold of Annie, +but had missed her. The moment he got his breath, he swam again into +the boiling pool, dived, and got hold of her; but he was so stupefied +by the force of the water falling upon him and beating him down, that +he could not get out of the raging depth--for here the water was many +feet deep--and as he would not leave his hold of Annie, was in danger +of being drowned. Meantime Curly had scrambled on shore and climbed up +to the mill-race, where he shut down the sluice hard. In a moment the +tumult had ceased, and Alec and Annie were in still water. In a moment +more he had her on the bank, apparently lifeless, whence he carried her +home to his mother in terror. She immediately resorted to one or two of +the usual restoratives, and was presently successful. + +As soon as she had opened her eyes, Alec and Curly hurried off to get +out their boat. They met the miller in an awful rage; for the sudden +onset of twice the quantity of water on his overshot wheel, had set his +machinery off as if it had been bewitched, and one old stone, which had +lost its iron girdle, had flown in pieces, to the frightful danger of +the miller and his men. + +"Ye ill-designed villains!" cried he at a venture, "what gart ye close +the sluice? I s' learn ye to min' what ye're aboot. Deil tak' ye for +rascals!" + +And he seized one in each brawny hand. + +"Annie Anderson was droonin' aneath the waste-water," answered Curly +promptly. + +"The Lord preserve 's!" said the miller, relaxing his hold "Hoo was +that? Did she fa' in?" + +The boys told him the whole story. In a few minutes more the back-fall +was again turned off, and the miller was helping them to get their boat +out. The _Bonnie Annie_ was found uninjured. Only the oars and +stretchers had floated down the stream, and were never heard of again. + +Alec had a terrible scolding from his mother for getting Annie into +such mischief. Indeed Mrs Forbes did not like the girl's being so much +with her son; but she comforted herself with the probability that by +and by Alec would go to college, and forget her. Meantime, she was very +kind to Annie, and took her home herself, in order to excuse her +absence, the blame of which she laid entirely on Alec, not knowing that +thereby she greatly aggravated any offence of which Annie might have +been guilty. Mrs Bruce solemnly declared her conviction that a judgment +had fallen upon her for Willie Macwha's treatment of her baby. + +"Gin I hadna jist gotten a glimp o' him in time, he wad hae drooned the +bonny infant afore my verra een. It's weel waured on them!" + +It did not occur to her that a wet skin was so very moderate a +punishment for child-murder, that possibly there had been no connection +between them. + +This first voyage of the _Bonnie Annie_ may seem a bad beginning; but I +am not sure that most good ends have not had such a bad beginning. +Perhaps the world itself may be received as a case in point. Alec and +Curly went about for a few days with a rather subdued expression. But +as soon as the boat was refitted, they got George Macwha to go with +them for cockswain; and under his instructions, they made rapid +progress in rowing and sculling. Then Annie was again their companion, +and, the boat being by this time fitted with a rudder, had several +lessons in steering, in which she soon became proficient. Many a +moonlight row they had on the Glamour; and many a night after Curly and +Annie had gone home, would Alec again unmoor the boat, and drop down +the water alone, letting the banks go dreaming past him--not always +sure that he was not dreaming himself, and would not suddenly awake and +find himself in his bed, and not afloat between heaven and earth, with +the moon above and the moon below him. I think it was in these seasons +that he began first to become aware of a certain stillness pervading +the universe like a law; a stillness ever being broken by the cries of +eager men, yet ever closing and returning with gentleness not to be +repelled, seeking to infold and penetrate with its own healing the +minds of the noisy children of the earth. But he paid little heed to +the discovery then, for he was made for activity, and in activity he +found his repose. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + + +My story must have shown already that, although several years younger +than Alec, Annie had much more character and personality than he. Alec +had not yet begun to look realities in the face. The very nobility and +fearlessness of his nature had preserved him from many such actions as +give occasion for looking within and asking oneself whereto things are +tending. Full of life and restless impulses to activity, all that could +properly be required of him as yet was that the action into which he +rushed should be innocent, and if conventionally mischievous, yet +actually harmless. Annie, comfortless at home, gazing all about her to +see if there was a rest anywhere for her, had been driven by the +outward desolation away from the window of the world to that other +window that opens on the regions of silent being where God is, and into +which when his creatures enter, or even look, the fountain of their +life springs aloft with tenfold vigour and beauty. Alec, whose home was +happy, knew nothing of that sense of discomfort which is sometimes the +herald of a greater need. But he was soon to take a new start in his +intellectual relations; nor in those alone, seeing the change was the +result of a dim sense of duty. The fact of his not being a scholar to +the mind of Murdoch Malison, arose from no deficiency of intellectual +_power_, but only of intellectual _capacity_--for the indefinite +enlargement of which a fitting excitement from without is alone +requisite. + +The season went on, and the world, like a great flower afloat in space, +kept opening its thousandfold blossom. Hail and sleet were things lost +in the distance of the year--storming away in some far-off region of +the north, unknown to the summer generation. The butterflies, with +wings looking as if all the flower-painters of fairyland had wiped +their brushes upon them in freakful yet artistic sport, came forth in +the freedom of their wills and the faithful ignorance of their minds. +The birds, the poets of the animal creation--what though they never get +beyond the lyrical!--awoke to utter their own joy, and awake like joy +in others of God's children. The birds grew silent, because their +history laid hold upon them, compelling them to turn their words into +deeds, and keep eggs warm, and hunt for worms. The butterflies died of +old age and delight. The green life of the earth rushed up in corn to +be ready for the time of need. The corn grew ripe, and therefore weary, +hung its head, died, and was laid aside for a life beyond its own. The +keen sharp old mornings and nights of autumn came back as they had come +so many thousand times before, and made human limbs strong and human +hearts sad and longing. Winter would soon be near enough to stretch out +a long forefinger once more, and touch with the first frosty shiver +some little child that loved summer, and shrunk from the cold. + +One evening in early autumn, when the sun, almost on the edge of the +horizon, was shining right in at the end of one of the principal +streets, filling its whole width with its glory of molten roses, all +the shopkeepers were standing in their doors. Little groups of country +people, bearing a curious relation to their own legs, were going in +various directions across the square. Loud laughter, very much like +animal noises, now and then invaded the ear; but the sound only rippled +the wide lake of the silence. The air was perfumed with the scent of +peat fires and the burning of weeds and potato-tops. There was no +fountain to complete the harmony, but the intermittent gushes from the +spout of the great pump in the centre of the square were no bad +substitute. At all events, they supplied the sound of water, without +which Nature's orchestra is not full. + +Wattie Sim, the watchmaker, long and lank, with grey bushy eyebrows +meeting over his nose, wandered, with the gait of a heedless pair of +compasses, across from his own shop to Redford the bookseller's, at +whose door a small group was already gathered. + +"Well, Wattie," said Captain Clashmach, "how goes the world with you?" + +"Muckle the same's wi' yersel', Captain, and the doctor there," +answered Wattie with a grin. "Whan the time's guid for ither fowk, it's +but sae sae for you and me. I haena had a watch come in for a haill ook +(week)." + +"Hoo de ye accoont for that, Mr Sim?" asked a shoemaker who stood near +without belonging to the group. + +"It's the ile, man, the ile. Half the mischeef o' watches is the ile." + +"But I don't see," said the doctor, "how that can be, Sim." + +"Weel, ye see, sir," answered Wattie--and the words seemed somehow to +have come tumbling silently down over the ridge of his nose, before he +caught them in his mouth and articulated them--"ye see, sir, watches is +delicat things. They're not to be traitet like fowk's insides wi' +onything 'at comes first. Gin I cud jist get the middle half-pint oot +o' the hert o' a hogsheid o' sperm ile, I wad I sud keep a' yer watches +gaein like the verra universe. But it wad be an ill thing for me, ye +ken. Sae maybe a' thing's for the best efter a'.--Noo, ye see, i' this +het weather, the ile keeps fine an' saft, and disna clog the +warks.--But losh preserves a'! What's that?" + +Staring up the street towards the sunset, which coloured all their +faces a red bronze, stood a group of townsfolk, momently increasing, +from which, before Wattie's party could reach it, burst a general +explosion of laughter. It was some moments, however, before they +understood what was the matter, for the great mild sun shone full in +their eyes. At length they saw, as if issuing from the huge heavy orb, +a long dark line, like a sea-serpent of a hundred joints, coming down +the street towards them, and soon discovered that it was a slow +procession of animals. First came Mistress Stephen, Stumpin Steenie the +policeman's cow, with her tail at full stretch behind her. To the end +of her tail was tied the nose of Jeames Joss the cadger's horse--a +gaunt sepulchral animal, which age and ill-treatment had taught to move +as if knees and hocks were useless refinements in locomotion. He had +just enough of a tail left to tie the nose of another cow to; and so, +by the accretion of living joints, the strange monster lengthened out +into the dim fiery distance. + +When Mrs Stephen reached the square, she turned to lead her train +diagonally across it, for in that direction lay her home. Moved by the +same desire, the cadger's horse wanted to go in exactly the opposite +direction. The cow pulled the one way, and the horse pulled the other; +but the cow, having her head free, had this advantage over the horse, +which was fast at both ends. So he gave in, and followed his less noble +leader. Cow after horse, and horse after cow, with a majority of cows, +followed, to the number of twenty or so; after which the joints began +to diminish in size. Two calves were at the tail of the last cow, a +little Highland one, with a sheep between them. Then came a goat +belonging to Charles Chapman the wool-carder, the only goat in the +place, which as often as the strain on his own tail slackened, made a +butt at that of the calf in front of him. Next came a diminishing +string of disreputable dogs, to the tail of the last of which was +fastened the only cat the inventors of this novel pastime had been able +to catch. At her tail followed--alas!--Andrew Truffey's white rabbit, +whose pink eyes, now fixed and glazed, would no more delight the +imagination of the poor cripple; and whose long furry hind legs would +never more bang the ground in sovereign contempt, as he dared pursuit; +for the dull little beast, having, with the stiffneckedness of fear, +persisted in pulling against the string that tied him to the tail of +Widow Wattles's great tom-cat, was now trailed ignominiously upon his +side, with soiled fur and outstretched neck--the last joint, and only +dead one, of this bodiless tail. + +Before Mistress Stephen had reached her home, and just as the last link +of the chain had appeared on the square, the mirth was raised to a yet +higher pitch by the sudden rush of several women to the rescue, who had +already heard the news of the ignominious abduction of their honoured +_kye_, and their shameful exposure to public ridicule. Each made for +her own four-footed property. + +"Guid preserve's, Hawkie! are ye come to this?" cried Lucky Lapp, as +she limped, still and ever lame with rheumatism, towards the third +member of the procession. "Gin I had the loon that did it," she went +on, fumbling, with a haste that defeated itself, at the knot that bound +Hawkie's nose to the tail of the cadger's horse--"gin I had the loon +'at did it, I wad ding the sowl oot o' his wame, the villain!" + +"Losh! it's my ain cat, as weel's my ain coo." screamed Lucky Wattles +in twofold indignation. "Gin I cud but redd (comb) the scoonrel's heid +wi' your cleuks, Baudrons!" she added, as she fondled the cat +passionately, "he wadna be in sic a doom's hurry to han'le ye again, +Is' wad (wager)." + +By this time Stumpin' Steenie, having undone his cow's tail, was +leading her home amid shouts of laughter. + +"Pit her i' the lock-up, Steenie. She's been takin' up wi' ill loons," +screeched an urchin. + +"Haud yer ill tongue, or I s' tak' you up, ye rascal," bawled Steenie. + +"Ye'll hae to saiddle Mistress Stephen afore ye can catch me, Stumpin' +Steenie!" + +Steenie, inflamed with sudden wrath, forsook the cow, and made an +elephantine rush at the offender, who vanished in the crowd, and thus +betrayed the constable to another shout of laughter. + +While the laugh was yet ringing, the burly figure of the stonemason +appeared, making his way by the momentum of great bulk and slow motion +to the front of the crowd. Without a word to any one, he drew a knife +from his pocket, and proceeded to cut every cord that bound the +helpless animals, the people staring silent all the while. + +It was a sight to see how the dogs scampered off in the delight of +their recovered freedom. But the rabbit lay where the cat had left him. +Thomas took it with some sign of tenderness, and holding it up in his +huge hand, put the question to the crowd in general. + +"Wha's aucht this?" + +"It's cripple Truffey's?" piped a shrill little voice. + +"Tell him 'at I'll account for't," rejoined Thomas, and putting the +animal in his pocket, departed. + +He took the nearest way to George Macwha's workshop, where he found +Alec and Curly, as he had expected, busy or appearing to be busy about +something belonging to their boat. They looked considerably hotter, +however, than could be accounted for by their work. This confirmed +Thomas's suspicions. + +"A fine ploy yon for a young gentleman, Alec!" said he. + +"What ploy, Thomas?" asked Alec, with attempted innocence. + +"Ye ken weel eneuch what ploy I mean, man." + +"Weel, supposin' I do--there's nae that muckle hairm dune, to mak' a +wark aboot, surely, Thomas." + +"Ca' ye that no hairm?" rejoined Thomas, pulling the dead rabbit out of +his pocket, and holding it up by the ears. "Ca' ye that no hairm?" he +repeated. + +Alec stared in dismay. Thomas well knew his regard for animals, and had +calculated upon it. + +"Luik at the puir thing wi' its bonny reid een closed for ever! It's a +mercy to think 'at there's no lemin' and lowin' (blazing and flaming) +future in store for hit, puir mappy (bunny)!" + +"Hoot, hoot, Thamas, man! Isna that bein' richteous overmuch, as oor +minister wad say?" + +The question came in the husky voice of Peter Whaup, the blacksmith, +who was now discovered leaning in over the half-door of the shop. + +"And wha's _your_ minister, Peter, my man?" retorted Thomas, with some +acrimony. + +"Mr Cooie, as ye weel ken, Thamas." + +"I thoucht as muckle. The doctrine savours o' the man, Peter. There's +no fear o' him or ony o' his followers bein' richteous over-much." + +"Weel, ye ken, that's naething but a rabbit i' yer han'. It wad hae +been worried some day. Hoo cam' 't by 'ts deith?" + +"I didna mean to kill't. 'Twas a' for fun, ye ken," said Alec, +addressing Thomas. + +"There's a heap o' fun," answered Thomas with solemnity, "that carries +deith i' the tail o' 't. Here's the puir cripple laddie's rabbit as +deid's a herrin', and him at hame greetin' his een oot, I daursay." + +Alec caught up his cap and made for the door. + +"I'll gang and see him. Curly, wha has ony rabbits to sell?" + +"Doddles's cleckit aboot a month ago." + +"Whaur does Doddles bide?" + +"I'll lat ye see." + +The boys were hurrying together from the shop, when Thomas caught Alec +by the arm. + +"Ye canna restore the rabbit, Alec." + +"Hoot! Thamas, ae rabbit's as guid's anither," interposed the smith, in +a tone indicating disapprobation, mingled with a desire to mollify. + +"Ay--to them 'at cares for neither. But there's sic a thing as a human +election, as weel's a divine ane; an' ane's no the same's anither, ance +it's a chosen ane." + +"Weel, I pity them 'at the Lord has no pity upo'," sighed the smith, +with a passing thought of his own fits of drinking. + +"Gang ye and try him. He may hae pity upo' you--wha kens?" said Thomas, +as he followed Alec, whom he had already released, out of the shop. + +"Ye see, Alec," he resumed in a low voice, when they were in the open +air--Curly going on before them, "it's time 'at ye was growin' a man, +and pittin' awa' childish things. Yer mither 'll be depen'in' upo' you, +or lang, to haud things gaein'; and ye ken gin ye negleck yer chance at +the school, yer time'll no come ower again. Man, ye sud try to do +something for conscience-sake. Hae ye learnt yer lessons for the morn, +noo?" + +"No, Thomas. But I will. I'm jist gaein' to buy a pair o' rabbits to +Truffey; and syne I'll gang hame." + +"There's a guid lad. Ye'll be a comfort till yer mither some day yet." + +With these words, Thomas turned and left them. + +There had been a growing, though it was still a vague sense, in Alec's +mind, that he was not doing well; and this rebuke of Thomas Crann +brought it full into the light of his own consciousness. From that day +he worked better. Mr Malison saw the change, and acknowledged it. This +reacted on Alec's feeling for the master; and during the following +winter he made three times the progress he had made in any winter +preceding. + +For the sea of summer ebbed away, and the rocky channels of the winter +appeared, with its cold winds, its ghost-like mists, and the damps and +shiverings that cling about the sepulchre in which Nature lies +sleeping. The boat was carefully laid up, across the rafters of the +barn, well wrapped in a shroud of tarpaulin. It was buried up in the +air; and the Glamour on which it had floated so gaily, would soon be +buried under the ice. Summer alone could bring them together again--the +one from the dry gloom of the barn, the other from the cold seclusion +of its wintry hebetude. + +Meantime Mrs Forbes was somewhat troubled in her mind as to what should +be done with Alec; and she often talked with the schoolmaster about +him. Herself of higher birth, socially considered, than her husband, +she had the ambition that her son should be educated for some +profession. Now in Scotland education is more easily got than almost +anything else; and whether there might be room for the exercise of the +profession afterwards, was a matter of less moment to Mrs Forbes, +seeing she was not at all willing that the farm which had been in her +husband's family for hundreds of years, should pass into the hands of +strangers, and Alec himself had the strongest attachment to the +ancestral soil; for to be loved it is not necessary that land should be +freehold. At length his increased diligence, which had not escaped her +observation, and was testified to by Mr Malison, confirmed her +determination that he should at least go to college. He would be no +worse a farmer for having an _A.M_. after his name; while the +curriculum was common to all the professions. So it was resolved that, +in the following winter, he should _compete for a bursary_. + +The communication that his fate lay in that direction roused Alec still +more. Now that an ulterior object rendered them attractive, he turned +his attention to the classics with genuine earnestness; and, on a +cloudy day in the end of October, found himself on the box-seat of the +Royal Mail, with his trunk on the roof behind him, bound for a certain +city whose advantages are not confined to the possession of a +university. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + + +After driving through long streets, brilliant with shops of endless +marvel, the coachman pulled up for the last time. It was a dull drizzly +evening, with sudden windy gusts, and, in itself, dark as pitch. But +Alec descended, cold and wet, in a brilliant light which flowed from +the door of the hotel as if it had been the very essence of its +structure. A porter took charge of his box, hoisted it on his back, and +led the way to the address he gave him. + +Notwithstanding the drizzle, and the angry rushes of the wind round the +street-corners, the foot-pavements were filled with men and women, +moving in different directions, like a double row of busy ants. Through +queer short cuts that terribly bewildered the way, the porter led him +to the house, and pushing the door open, went up two flights of stone +stairs and knocked at a door on the landing. Alec was shown into a room +where a good fire was blazing away with a continuous welcome; and when +seated by it drinking his tea, he saw the whole world golden through +the stained windows of his imagination. + +But his satisfaction gradually passed into a vague longing after +something else. Would human nature be more perfect were it capable of +being satisfied with cakes and ale? Alec felt as if he had got to the +borders of fairy-land, and _something_ was going to happen. A door +would open and admit him into the secret of the world. But the door was +so long in opening, that he took to unpacking his box; when, as he +jumped up to thank his mother for some peculiar remembrance of his +likings, the whole affair suddenly changed to a rehearsal of death; and +his longings for the remainder of the night were towards the past. + +He rose in the morning with the feeling revived, that something intense +was going on all arouud. But the door into life generally opens behind +us, and a hand is put forth which draws us in backwards. The sole +wisdom for man or boy who is haunted with the hovering of unseen wings, +with the scent of unseen roses, and the subtle enticements of "melodies +unheard," is _work_. If he follow any of those, they will vanish. But +if he work, they will come unsought, and, while they come, he will +believe that there is a fairy-land, where poets find their dreams, and +prophets are laid hold of by their visions. The idle beat their heads +against its walls, or mistake the entrance, and go down into the dark +places of the earth. + +Alec stood at the window, and peered down into the narrow street, +through which, as in a channel between rocks burrowed into dwellings, +ran the ceaseless torrent of traffic. He felt at first as if life at +least had opened its gates, and he had been transported into the midst +of its drama. But in a moment the show changed, turning first into a +meaningless procession; then into a chaos of conflicting atoms; +re-forming itself at last into an endlessly unfolding coil, no break in +the continuity of which would ever reveal the hidden mechanism. For to +no mere onlooker will Life any more than Fairy-land open its secret. A +man must become an actor before he can be a true spectator. + +Weary of standing at the window, he went and wandered about the +streets. To his country-bred eyes they were full of marvels--which +would soon be as common to those eyes as one of the furrowed fields on +his father's farm. The youth who thinks the world his oyster, and opens +it forthwith, finds no pearl therein. + +What is this _nimbus_ about the new? Is the marvel a mockery? Is the +shine that of demon-gold? No. It is a winged glory that alights beside +the youth; and, having gathered his eyes to itself, flits away to a +further perch; there alights, there shines, thither entices. With +outstretched hands the child of earth follows, to fall weeping at the +foot of the gray disenchanted thing. But beyond, and again beyond, +shines the lapwing of heaven--not, as a faithless generation thinks, to +delude like them, but to lead the seeker home to the nest of the glory. + +Last of all, Alec was forced to take refuge in his books. + +_The competition_ fell on the next day, and he gained a small bursary. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + + +As it happened, no one but Alec had come up from Glamerton that year. +He did not know one of his fellow-students. There were very few in the +first class indeed who had had any previous acquaintance with each +other. But before three days were over like had begun to draw to like, +and opposites to their natural opposites. These mutual attractions, +however, were considerably influenced by the social sphere, as +indicated by style of dress, speech, and manners, in which each had +been accustomed to move. Some of the youths were of the lowliest +origin--the sons of ploughmen and small country shopkeepers; +shock-headed lads, with much of the looks and manners of year-old +bullocks, mostly with freckled faces and a certain general +irresponsiveness of feature, soon to vanish as the mental and nervous +motions became more frequent and rapid, working the stiff clay of their +faces into a readier obedience to the indwelling plasticity. Some, on +the other hand, showed themselves at once the aristocracy of the class, +by their carriage and social qualifications or assumptions. These were +not generally the best scholars; but they set the fashion in the cut of +their coats, and especially in the style of their neckerchiefs. Most of +them were of Highland families; some of them jolly, hearty fellows; +others affected and presumptuous, evidently considering it beneath them +to associate with the multitude. + +Alec belonged to a middle class. Well-dressed, he yet knew that his +clothes had a country air, and that beside some of the men he cut a +poor figure in more than in this particular. For a certain superiority +of manner distinguished them, indicating that they had been accustomed +to more of the outward refinements of life than he. Now let Alec once +feel that a man was wiser and better than himself, and he was +straightway incapable of envying him any additional superiority +possible--would, in a word, be perfectly willing that he should both +wear a better coat and be a better scholar than himself. But to any one +who did not possess the higher kind of superiority, he foolishly and +enviously grudged the lower kinds of pre-eminence. To understand this +it must be remembered, that as yet he had deduced for himself no +principles of action or feeling: he was only a boy well-made, with +little goodness that he had in any way verified for himself. + +On the second day after the commencement of lectures, it was made known +to the first class that the Magistrand (fourth-class) Debating Society +would meet that evening. The meetings of this society, although under +the control of the magistrands, were open, upon equal terms in most +other respects, to the members of the inferior classes. They were held +in the Natural Philosophy class-room, at seven o'clock in the evening; +and to the first meeting of the session Alec went with no little +curiosity and expectation. + +It was already dark when he set out from his lodgings in the new town, +for the gateway beneath the tower with that crown of stone which is the +glory of the ancient borough gathered beneath it. Through narrow +crooked streets, with many dark courts on each side, he came to the +open road which connected the two towns. It was a starry night, dusky +rather than dark, and full of the long sound of the distant sea-waves +falling on the shore beyond the _links_. He was striding along +whistling, and thinking about as nearly nothing as might be, when the +figure of a man, whose footsteps he had heard coming through the gloom, +suddenly darkened before him and stopped. It was a little spare, +slouching figure, but what the face was like, he could not see. + +"Whustlin'?" said the man, interrogatively. + +"Ay; what for no?" answered Alec cheerily. + +"Haud yer een aff o' rainbows, or ye'll brak' yer shins upo' +gravestanes," said the man, and went on, with a shuffling gait, his +eyes flashing on Alec, from under projecting brows, as he passed. + +Alec concluded him drunk, although drink would not altogether account +for the strangeness of the address, and soon forgot him. The arch +echoed to his feet as he entered the dark quadrangle, across which a +glimmer in the opposite tower guided him to the stairs leading up to +the place of meeting. He found the large room lighted by a chandelier, +and one of the students seated as president in the professor's chair, +while the benches were occupied by about two hundred students, most of +the freshmen or _bejans_ in their red gowns. + +Various preliminary matters were discussed with an energy of utterance, +and a fitness of speech, which would have put to shame the general +elocution of both the pulpit and the bar. At length, however, a certain +_semi_ (second-classman, or more popularly _sheep_) stood up to give +his opinion on some subject in dispute, and attempting to speak too +soon after his dinner, for he was one of the more fashionable order, +hemmed and stammered till the weariness of the assembly burst upon him +in a perfect torrent of hisses and other animal exclamations. Among the +loudest in this inarticulate protestation, were some of the red-gowned +bejans, and the speaker kindled with wrath at the presumption of the +yellow-beaks (becs jaunes: bejans), till, indignation bursting open the +barriers of utterance, he poured forth a torrent of sarcastic contempt +on the young clod-hoppers, who, having just come from herding their +fathers' cows, could express their feelings in no more suitable +language than that of the bovine animals which had been their principal +and fit associates. As he sat down, his eyes rested with withering +scorn upon Alec Forbes, who instantly started to his feet amidst a +confusion of plaudits and hisses, but, finding it absolutely impossible +to speak so as to be heard, contented himself with uttering a sonorous +_ba-a-a-a_, and instant dropped into his seat, all the other outcries +dissolving in shouts of laughter. In a moment he received a candle full +in the face; its companions went flying in all directions, and the room +was in utter darkness. A scramble for the door followed; and amidst +struggling, shouting, and swearing, the whole company rolled down the +stair into the quadrangle, most of them without their caps, and some +with their new gowns torn from bottom to top. The night was hideous +with the uproar. In the descent, Alec received a blow on the head which +half stunned him; but he did not imagine that its severity was other +than an accident of the crush. He made the best of his way home, and +went to bed. + +After this he was popular; and after this, as often as Patrick +Beauchamp and he passed each other in walking up and down the arcade, +Beauchamp's high curved upper lip would curve yet higher, and Alec +would feel with annoyance that he could not sustain the glance of his +gray eyes. + +Beauchamp was no great favourite even in his own set; for there is one +kind of religion in which the more devoted a man is, the fewer +proselytes he makes: the worship of himself. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + + +One morning, about two months from the beginning of the session, after +the students had been reading for some time in the Greek class, the +professor was seen, not unexpectedly to part of the assembly, to look +up at the ceiling with sudden discomposure. There had been a heavy fall +of snow in the night, and one of the students, whose organ of humour +had gained at the expense of that of veneration, had, before the +arrival of the professor, gathered a ball of the snow, and thrown it +against the ceiling with such forceful precision, that it stuck right +over the centre of the chair. This was perhaps the first time that such +a trick had been dared in the first class, belonging more properly to +the advanced depravity of the second or third. When the air began to +get warm, the snow began to drop upon the head of the old professor; +and this was the cause of his troubled glance at the ceiling. But the +moment he looked up, Alec, seeing what was the matter, and feeling all +his natural loyalty roused, sprang from his seat, and rushing out of +the class-room, returned with a long broom which the sacrist had been +using to clear foot-paths across the quadrangle. The professor left his +chair, and Alec springing on the desk, swept the snow from the ceiling. +He then wiped the seat with his handkerchief and returned to his place. +The gratitude of the old man shone in his eyes. True, he would only +have had to send for the sacrist to rescue him; but here was an +atonement for the insult, offered by one of the students themselves. + +"Thank you, Mr Forbes," he stammered; "I am ek-ek-ek--exceedingly +obliged to you." + +The professor was a curious, kindly little man--lame, with a brown wig, +a wrinkled face, and a long mouth, of which he only made use of the +half on the right side to stammer out humorous and often witty +sayings--at least so they appeared to those who had grace enough to +respect his position and his age. As often as reference is made in my +hearing to Charles Lamb and his stutter, up comes the face of dear old +Professor Fraser, and I hear him once more stammering out some joke, +the very fun of which had its source in kindliness. Somehow the stutter +never interfered with the point of the joke: that always came with a +rush. He seemed, while hesitating on some unimportant syllable, to be +arranging what was to follow and strike the blow. + +"Gentlemen," he continued upon this occasion, "the Scripture says +you're to heap c-c-c-coals of fire on your enemy's head. When you are +to heap drops of water on your friend's w-w-wig, the Scripture doesn't +say." + +The same evening Alec received a note from him asking him to breakfast +with him the following morning, which was Saturday, and consequently a +holiday. It was usual with the professors to invite a dozen or so of +the students to breakfast on Saturdays, but on this occasion Alec was +the sole guest. + +As soon as he entered the room, Mr Fraser hobbled to meet him, with +outstretched hand of welcome, and a kindly grin on his face. + +"Mr Forbes," he said, "I h-h-hope well of you; for you can respect an +old man. I'm very glad to see you. I hope you've brought an appetite +with you. Sit down. Always respect old age, Mr Forbes. You'll be old +yourself some day--and you won't like it any more than I do. I've had +my young days, though, and I mustn't grumble." + +And here he smiled; but it was a sad smile, and a tear gathered in the +corner of one of his old eyes. He caught up a globular silver tea-pot, +and began to fill the tea-cups. Apparently the reflection of his own +face in the tea-pot was too comical to resist, for the old man +presently broke into what was half a laugh and half a grin, and, +without in any way accounting for it, went on talking quite merrily for +the rest of the meal. + +"My mother told me," said Alec at length, "in a letter I had from her +yesterday, that your brother, sir, had married a cousin of hers." + +"What! what! Are you a son of Mr Forbes of Howglen?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"You young rascal! Why didn't your mother send you to me?" + +"She didn't like to trouble you, I suppose, sir." + +"People like me, that haven't any relations, must make the most of the +relations they have. I am in no danger of being troubled that way. +You've heard of my poor brother's death?" + +"No, sir." + +"He died last year. He was a clergyman, you know. When you come up next +session, I hope to show you his daughter--your cousin, you know. She is +coming to live with me. People that don't marry don't deserve to have +children. But I'm going to have one after all. She's at school now. +What do you think of turning to, Mr Forbes?" + +"I haven't thought much about it yet, sir." + +"Ah! I daresay not. If I were you, I would be a doctor. If you're +honest, you're sure to do some good. I think you're just the man for a +doctor now--you respect your fellow-men. You don't laugh at old age, Mr +Forbes." + +And so the kind garrulous old man went on, talking about everything +except Greek. For that he had no enthusiasm. Indeed, he did not know +enough to have, by possibility, any feeling about it. What he did know, +however, he taught well, and very conscientiously. + +This was the first time that Alec's thoughts had been turned towards a +profession. The more he thought about it the better he liked the idea +of being a doctor; till at length, after one or two talks about it with +Mr Fraser, he resolved, notwithstanding that the session was +considerably advanced, to attend the anatomical course for the rest of +it. The Greek and Latin were tolerably easy to him, and it would be so +much time gained if he entered the first medical class at once. He need +not stand the examination except he liked, and the fee was not by any +means large. His mother was more than satisfied with the proposal, and, +although what seemed a trifle to Alec was of some consequence to her, +she sent him at once the necessary supplies. Mr Fraser smoothed the way +for him with the professor, and he was soon busy making up his distance +by a close study of the class-books. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + + +The first day of his attendance in the dissecting-room was a memorable +one, and had memorable consequences. He had considerable misgivings +about the new experience he had to meet, and sought, by the +concentration of his will, to prepare himself to encounter the +inevitable with calmness, and, if possible, with seeming indifference. +But he was not prepared after all for the disadvantage of entering a +company already hardened to those peculiarities of the position for +which a certain induration is as desirable as unavoidable. + +When he entered the room, he found a group already gathered. He drew +timidly towards the table on the other side, not daring to glance at +something which lay upon it--"white with the whiteness of what is +dead;" and, feeling as if all the men were looking at him, as indeed +most of them were, kept staring, or trying to stare, at other things in +the room. But all at once, from an irresistible impulse, he faced +round, and looked at the table. + +There lay the body of a woman, with a young sad face, beautiful in +spite of a terrible scar on the forehead, which indicated too plainly +with what brutal companions she had consorted. Alec's lip quivered, and +his throat swelled with a painful sensation of choking. He turned away, +and bit his lip hard to keep down his emotion. + +The best quality he possessed was an entire and profound reverence for +women. Indignation even was almost quelled in the shock he received, +when one of the students, for the pleasure of sneering at his +discomposure, and making a boast of his own superiority to such +weakness, uttered a brutal jest. In vain the upturned face made its +white appeal to the universe: a laugh billowed the silence about its +head. + +But no rudeness could hurt that motionless heart--no insult bring a +blush on that pale face. The closed eyes, the abandoned hands seemed +only to pray: + +"Let me into the dark--out of the eyes of those men!" + +Alec gave one sob in the vain effort to master the conflicting emotions +of indignation and pity. It reverberated in the laugh which burst from +the students of the healing art. Almost quenched in the laugh he heard +one word however, in the same voice which had made the jest--a voice he +knew well enough--that of Patrick Beauchamp. His face blazed up; his +eyes flashed; and he had made one step forward, when he was arrested by +the still face of the dead woman, which, ghostly as the morning moon, +returned no glow in the red sunlight of his wrath; and in reverence he +restrained his anger. In another moment, the professor arrived. + +During the lecture and accompanying demonstrations. Alec was deaf and +blind from burning rage; in the midst of which, however, he almost +forgot his own wrong in regarding that done to the dead. He became, in +his own eyes, the champion of one whom nature and death had united to +render defenceless. From the verge of a gulf more terrible than the +grave, her cry had reached him, and he would rise to avenge her. + +As soon as they came out, he walked up to Beauchamp. + +"You called me a spoony," he said through his set teeth. + +"I did," answered Beauchamp, with an admirable drawl of indifference. + +Alec replied with a blow; whereupon Beauchamp knocked him down. But he +was up in a moment; and, although his antagonist was both older and +bigger, the elasticity of his perfect health soon began to tell. There +was little science between them, and what there was lay on Beauchamp's +side; yet he defended himself more and more feebly, for his wind had +soon given way. At length, after receiving a terrible blow on the +mouth, Beauchamp dropped his arms and turned his back; and Alec, after +some hesitation, let him go without the parting kick which he was +tempted to give him, and which he had so well deserved. + +The men dispersed without remark, ashamed of themselves, and admiring +the bumpkin--most of them were gentlemen enough for that; while each of +the combatants retired unaccompanied to his own lodging--Alec with a +black eye, which soon passed through yellow back to its own natural +hue, and Beauchamp with a cut, the scar of which deepened the sneer on +his upper lip, and was long his evil counsellor from the confessional +of the mirror. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + + +The encounter fortunately took place upon a Friday, so that the +combatants had both Saturday and Sunday, with the deodand of a slight +fine for being absent from chapel, to recover appearances. Alec kept to +the house both days, and read hard at his medical and anatomical books. +His landlady took charge of his eye, and ministered to it with +assiduity and discretion, asking no questions, and courting no +confidences, only looking at him comically now and then out of gray +motherly eyes, that might have been trusted with the universe. She knew +the ways of students. In the course of one of the dressings, she said: + +"Ye'll be thinkin' lang (ennuye), Mr Forbes, at haein' to bide i' the +hoose wi' that blackamoor ee o' yours. Hoo dinna ye gang up the stair +to Mr Cupples, and hae a lauch wi' him?" + +"I didna ken ye had onybody up the stair. Wha's Mr Cupples?" + +"Weel, he kens that best himsel! But he's a gey queer ane. He's a +terrible scholar though, fowk says--gran' at the Greek, and rael bonny +on the mathewmawtics. Only ye maunna be fleyt (frightened) at him." + +"I'm easy fleyt," said Alec, with a laugh. "But I wad like to see him." + +"Gang up, than, and chap at the garret door upo' yer left han'." + +"But what reason am I to gie him for disturbin' him?" asked Alec. + +"Ow nane ava. Jist tak' a moufu' o' Greek wi' ye to speir the richt +meanin' o', gin ye maun hae a rizzon." + +"That will do just first-rate," said Alec; "for here I have been +puzzling over a sentence for the last half hour with nobody but this +dim-sighted ghost of a Schrevelius to help me out with it. I'll go +directly. But I look such a blackguard with this game eye!" + +The landlady laughed. + +"You'll sune forget that whan ye see Mr Cupples." + +To the dismay of his nurse, Alec pulled the bandage off his eye, and +amidst her expostulations caught up his book, and rushing away, bounded +up the garret stairs, which ascended outside the door of the _flat_. At +the top, he found himself under the bare roof, with only boards and +slates between him and the clouds. The landing was lighted by a +skylight, across which diligent and undisturbed spiders had woven their +webs for years. He stood for a moment or two, puzzled as to which door +he ought to assail, for all the doors about looked like closet-doors, +leading into dingy recesses. At last, with the aid of his nose, he made +up his mind, and knocked. + +"Come in," cried a voice of peculiar tone. It reminded Alec of +something he could not at all identify, which was not wonderful, seeing +it was of itself, heard once before, that it reminded him. It was the +same voice which, as he walked to the debate, the first night, had +warned him not to look at rainbows. + +He opened the door and entered. + +"What do you want?" said the voice, its source almost invisible in the +thick fumes of genuine pigtail, through which it sent cross odours of +as genuine Glenlivat. + +"I want you to help me with a bit of Homer, if you please, Mr +Cupples--I'm not up to Homer yet." + +"Do ye think I hae naething ither to do than to grin' the grandur o' an +auld haythen into spunemate for a young sinner like you?" + +"Ye dinna ken what I'm like, Mr Cupples," returned Alec, remembering +his landlady's injunction not to be afraid of him. + +"Come athort the reek, and lat's luik at ye." + +Alec obeyed, and found the speaker seated by the side of a little fire, +in an old easy-chair covered with horsehair; and while undergoing his +scrutiny, took his revenge in kind. Mr Cupples was a man who might have +been of almost any age from five-and-twenty to fifty--at least, Alec's +experience was insufficient for the task of determining to what decade +of human years he belonged. He was a little man, in a long black +tail-coat much too large, and dirty gray trousers. He had no +shirt-collar visible, although a loose rusty stock revealed the whole +of his brown neck. His hair, long, thin, fair, and yet a good deal +mingled with grey, straggled about over an uncommonly high forehead, +which had somehow the neglected and ruinous look of an old bare tower +no ivy had beautified. His ears stood far out from his great head. His +nose refuses to be described. His lips were plentiful and loose; his +chin was not worth mentioning; his eyes were rather large, beautifully +formed, bright, and blue. His hand, small, delicately shaped, and +dirty, grasped, all the time he was examining Alec, a tumbler of +steaming toddy; while his feet, in list slippers of different colours, +balanced themselves upon the fender[.] + +"You've been fighting, you young rascal!" said Mr Cupples, in a tone of +authority, the moment he had satisfied himself about Alec's +countenance. "That won't do. It's not respectable." + +And he gave the queerest unintelligible grin. + +Alec found himself strangely attracted to him, and impelled--a feeling +not unfrequent with him--to tell the truth, the whole truth, and +nothing but the truth. + +"The world itself isn't the most respectable planet in the system, Mr +Cupples," said he; "and no honest inhabitant of it can be always +respectable either." + +Mr Cupples chuckled and laughed groggily, muttering somewhere in his +chest-- + +"You young dog! there's stuff in you!" Then composing himself a little, +he said aloud: "Tell me all about it directly." + +Alec obeyed, and, not without emotion, gave Mr Cupples the whole +history of the affair. + +"Damn you!" remarked Mr Cupples in a husky voice, as he held out a +trembling hand to Alec, "you're one of the right sort. I'll do anything +for you I can. Where's your Homer?" + +So saying, he rose with care and went towards a cupboard in the corner. +His pipe had been so far interrupted during their conversation, that +Alec was now able, by the light of the tallow candle, to see the little +garret room, with its ceiling on one side sloping nearly to the floor, +its walls begrimed with smoke, and the bare plaster covered with +grotesque pencil-drawings--caricatures of Homeric heroes in the guise +of schoolboys, polemic clergymen of the city in the garb of fish-wives +militant, and such like. A bed and a small chest of drawers stood under +the slope of the roof, and the rest of the room was occupied by a +painted table covered with papers, and a chair or two. An old +broadsword leaned against the wall in a corner. A half-open cupboard +revealed bottles, glasses, and a dry-looking cheese. To the +corresponding cupboard, on the other side of the fire, which had lost a +corner by the descent of the roof, Mr Cupples now dragged his slippers, +feeling in his waistcoat pocket, as he went, for the key.--There was +another door still, partly sunk in the slope of the ceiling. + +When he opened the cupboard, a dusky glimmer of splendid bindings +filling the whole recess, shone out upon the dingy room. From a shelf +he took a volume of Homer, bound in vellum, with red edges--a copy of +far greater value than Alec had knowledge of books to understand--and +closing the door again, resumed his seat in the easy-chair. Having +found the passage, he read it through aloud in a manner which made +Homer for the first time sound like poetry in Alec's ears, and almost +revealed the hidden significance. Then pouncing at once upon the +shadowy word which was the key to the whole, he laid open the +construction and meaning in one sentence of explanation. + +"Thank you! thank you!" exclaimed Alec. "I see it all now as plain as +English." + +"Stop, stop, my young bantam!" said Mr Cupples. "Don't think you're +going to break into my privacy and get off with the booty so cheaply. +Just you construe the whole sentence to me." + +Alec did so tolerably well; for the passage was only an easy extract, +the class not having reached Homer yet. Mr Cupples put several +questions to him, which gave him more insight into Greek than a week's +work in the class would have done, and ended with a small lecture +suggested by the passage, drinking away at his toddy all the time. The +lecture and the toddy ended together. Turning his head aside, where it +lay back in the horse-hair chair, he said sleepily: + +"Go away--I don't know your name.--Come and see me to-morrow night. I'm +drunk now." + +Alec rose, made some attempt at thanks, received no syllable of reply, +and went out, closing the door behind him, and leaving Mr Cupples to +his dreams. + +His countenance had not made much approximation to respectability +before the Monday. He therefore kept it as well as he could out of Mr +Fraser's sight, to whom he did not wish to give explanations to the +prejudice of any of his fellow-students. Mr Fraser, however, saw his +black eye well enough, but was too discreet to ask questions, and +appeared quite unaware of the transitory blemish. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + + +Meantime, at Glamerton the winter passed very much like former winters +to all but three--Mrs Forbes, Annie Anderson, and Willie Macwha. To +these the loss of Alec was dreary. So they were in a manner compelled +to draw closer together. At school, Curly assumed the protectorship of +Annie which had naturally devolved upon him, although there was now +comparatively little occasion for its exercise; and Mrs Forbes, finding +herself lonely in her parlour during the long _forenights_, got into +the habit of sending Mary at least three times a week to fetch her. +This was not agreeable to the Bruce, but the kingly inheritor abode his +hour; and Mrs Forbes had no notion of the amount of offence she gave by +doing so. + +That parlour at Howglen was to Annie a little heaven hollowed out of +the winter. The warm curtains drawn, and the fire blazing +defiantly,--the angel with the flaming sword to protect their Paradise +from the frost, it was indeed a contrast to the sordid shop, and the +rat-haunted garret. + +After tea they took it in turns to work and to read. Mrs Forbes had +never sought to satisfy the religious public as to the state of her +mind, and so had never been led astray into making frantic efforts to +rouse her own feelings; which is, in fact, to apply to them the hottest +searing iron of all, next to that of sin. Hence her emotional touch +remained delicate, and what she could understand she could feel. The +good books she liked best were stories of the Scotch Covenanters and +Worthies, whose example, however much of stiff-neckedness may have +mingled with their devotion, was yet the best that Annie could have, +inasmuch as they were simply martyrs--men who would not say _yes_ when +they ought to say _no_. Nor was Mrs Forbes too religious to enjoy the +representation given of these Covenanters in _Old Mortality_. Her +feelings found nothing repulsive in the book, although she never +discovered the reason in the fact that Sir Walter's feelings were the +same as her own, whatever his opinions might be, and had given the +chief colour and tone to the representation of his characters. There +were more books in the house than was usual even in that of a +_gentleman farmer_; and several of Sir Walter's novels, besides some +travels, and a little Scotch history, were read between them that +winter. In poetry, Annie had to forage for herself. Mrs Forbes could +lend her no guiding hand in that direction. + +The bond between them grew stronger every day. Annie was to Mrs Forbes +an outlet for her maternity, which could never have outlet enough +without a girl as well as a boy to love; and Annie, in consequence, was +surrounded by numberless holy influences, which, operating in a time +when she was growing fast, had their full effect upon mind and body +both. In a condition of rapid change, the mass is more yielding and +responsive. One result in her was, that a certain sober grace, like +that of the lovely dull-feathered hen-birds, began to manifest itself +in her carriage and her ways. And this leads me to remark that her +outward and visible feathers would have been dull enough had not Mrs +Forbes come to her aid with dresses of her own, which they remade +between them; for it will easily be believed that no avoidable outlay +remained unavoided by the Bruces. Indeed, but for the feeling that she +must be decent on Sundays, they would have let her go yet shabbier than +she was when Mrs Forbes thus partially adopted her. Now that she was +warmly and neatly dressed, she began to feel and look more like the +lady-child she really was. No doubt the contrast was very painful when +she returned from Mrs Forbes's warm parlour to sleep in her own garret, +with the snow on the roof, scanty clothing on the bed, and the rats in +the floor. But there are two sides to a contrast; and it is wonderful +also how one gets through what one cannot get out of. + +A certain change in the Bruce-habits, leading to important results for +Annie, must now be recorded. + +Robert Bruce was making money, but not so fast as he wished. For his +returns came only in small sums, although the profits were great. His +customers were chiefly of the poorer classes of the town and the +neighbourhood, who preferred his unpretending shop to the more showy +establishments of some of his rivals. A sort of _couthy_, _pauky_, +confidentially flattering way that he had with them, pleased them, and +contributed greatly to keep them true to his counter. And as he knew +how to buy as well as how to sell, the poor people, if they had not the +worth of their money, had at least what was good of its sort. But, as I +have said, although he was making haste to be rich, he was not +succeeding fast enough. So he bethought him that the Missionar Kirk was +getting "verra throng." + +A month or two before this time, the Missionars had made choice of a +very able man for their pastor--a man of genuine and strong religious +feeling, who did not allow his theology to interfere with the teaching +given him by God's Spirit more than he could help, and who, if he had +been capable of making a party at all, would have made it with the poor +against the rich. This man had gathered about him a large congregation +of the lower classes of Glamerton; and Bruce had learned with some +uneasiness that a considerable portion of his customers was to be found +in the Missionar Kirk on Sundays, especially in the evenings. For there +was a grocer amongst the Missionars, who, he feared, might draw some of +his subjects away from their allegiance, seeing he must have a certain +religious influence of which Robert was void, to bring to bear upon +them. What therefore remained but that he too should join the +congregation? For then he would not only retain the old, but have a +chance of gaining new customers as well. So he took a week to think +about it, a Sunday to hear Mr Turnbull in order that the change might +not seem too abrupt, and a pew under the gallery before the next Sunday +arrived; in which, five minutes before the hour, he and his family were +seated, adding greatly to the consequence both of the place and of +himself in the eyes of his Missionar customers. + +This change was a source of much pleasure to Annie. For although she +found the service more wearisome than good Mr Cowie's, lasting as it +did about three quarters of an hour longer and the sermon was not +invariably of a kind in which she could feel much interest, yet, +occasionally, when Mr Turnbull was in his better moods, and testified +of that which he had himself seen and known, the honest heart of the +maiden recognized the truth, and listened absorbed. The young Bruces, +for their parts, would gladly have gone to sleep, which would perhaps +have been the most profitable use to which they could put the time; but +they were kept upright and in a measure awake, by the constant +application, "spikewise," of the paternal elbow, and the judicious +administration, on the part of the mother, of the unfailing peppermint +lozenges, to which in the process of ages a certain sabbatical +character has attached itself. To Annie, however, no such ministration +extended, for it would have been downright waste, seeing she could keep +awake without it. + +One bright frosty morning, the sermon happening to have no relation to +the light around or within them, but only to the covenant made with +Abraham--such a legal document constituting the only reliable +protection against the character, inclinations, and duties of the +Almighty, whose uncovenanted mercies are of a very doubtful +nature--Annie, neither able to enter into the subject, nor to keep from +shivering with the cold, tried to amuse herself with gazing at one +brilliant sun-streak on the wall, which she had discovered to be +gradually shortening itself, and retreating towards the window by which +it had entered. Wondering how far it would have moved before the sermon +was over, and whether it would have shone so very bright if God had +made no covenant with Abraham, she was earnestly watching it pass from +spot to spot, and from cobweb to cobweb, as if already it fled before +the coming darkness of the long winter night, when she caught a glimpse +of a very peculiar countenance turned in the same direction--that is, +not towards the minister, but towards this travelling light. She +thought the woman was watching it as well as she, and wondered whether +she too was hoping for a plate of hot broth as soon as the sunbeam had +gone a certain distance--broth being the Sunday fare with the +Bruces--and, I presume, with most families in Scotland. The countenance +was very plain, seamed and scarred as if the woman had fallen into the +fire when a child; and Annie had not looked at her two seconds, before +she saw that she was perfectly blind. Indeed she thought at first that +she had no eyes at all; but as she kept gazing, fascinated with the +strangeness and ugliness of the face, she discovered that the eyelids, +though incapable of separating, were inconstant motion, and that a +shrunken eye-ball underneath each kept rolling and turning ever, as if +searching for something it could not find. She saw too that there was a +light on the face, a light which came neither from the sun in the sky, +nor the sunbeam on the wall, towards which it was unconsciously turned. +I think it must have been the heavenly bow itself, shining upon all +human clouds--a bow that had shone for thousands of ages before ever +there was an Abraham, or a Noah, or any other of our faithless +generation, which will not trust its God unless he swear that he will +not destroy them. It was the ugliest face. But over it, as over the +rugged channel of a sea, flowed the transparent waves of a heavenly +delight. + +When the service was over, almost before the words of the benediction +had left the minister's lips, the people, according to Scotch habit, +hurried out of the chapel, as if they could not possibly endure one +word more. But Annie, who was always put up to the top of the pew, +because there, by reason of an intruding pillar, it required a painful +twist of the neck to see the minister, stood staring at the blind woman +as she felt her way out of the chapel. There was no fear of putting her +out by staring at her. When, at length, she followed her into the open +air, she found her standing by the door, turning her sightless face on +all sides, as if looking for some one and trying hard to open her eyes +that she might see better. Annie watched her, till, seeing her lips +move, she knew, half by instinct, that she was murmuring, "The bairn's +forgotten me!" Thereupon she glided up to her and said gently: + +"If ye'll tell me whaur ye bide, I s' tak ye hame." + +"What do they ca' _you_, bairn?" returned the blind woman, in a gruff, +almost manlike voice, hardly less unpleasant to hear than her face was +to look at. + +"Annie Anderson," answered Annie. + +"Ow, ay! I thoucht as muckle. I ken a' aboot ye. Gie's a haud o' yer +han'. I bide i' that wee hoosie down at the brig, atween the dam and +the Glamour, ye ken. Ye'll haud me aff o' the stanes?" + +"Ay will I." answered Annie confidently. + +"I could gang my lane, but I'm growin some auld noo, and I'm jist +raither feared for fa'in'." + +"What garred ye think it was me--I never spak till ye afore?" asked +Annie, as they walked on together. + +"Weel, it's jist half guissin', an' half a kin' o' jeedgment--pittin +things thegither, ye ken, my bairn. Ye see, I kent a' the bairns that +come to oor kirk weel eneuch already. I ken the word and amaist the fit +o' them. And I had heard tell 'at Maister Bruce was come to oor kirk. +Sae when a lassie spak till me 'at I never saw afore, I jist a kin' o' +kent 'at it bude to be yersel'." + +All this was spoken in the same harsh voice, full of jars, as if ever +driving against corners, and ready to break into a hoarse whisper. But +the woman held Annie's hand kindly, and yielded like a child to her +guidance which was as careful as that of the angel that led Peter. + +It was a new delight to Annie to have some one to whom she a child +could be a kind of mother, towards whom she could fulfil a woman's +highest calling--that of _ministering unto_; and it was with something +of a sacred pride that she led her safe home, through the snowy +streets, and down the steep path that led from the level of the bridge, +with its three high stone arches, to the little meadow where her +cottage stood. Before they reached it, the blind woman, whose name was +Tibbie (Isobel) Dyster, had put many questions to her, and without +asking one indiscreet, had yet, by her gift for fitting and fusing +things in the retort of her own brain, come to a tolerably correct +knowledge of her character, circumstances, and history. + +As soon as they entered the cottage, Tibbie was entirely at her ease. +The first thing she did was to lift the kettle from the fire, and feel +the fire with her hands in order to find out in what condition it was. +She would not allow Annie to touch it: she could not trust the creature +that had nothing but eyes to guide her, with such a delicate affair. +Her very hands looked blind and trying to see, as, with fine up-curved +tips, they went wandering over the tops of the live peats. She +re-arranged them, put on some fresh pieces, blew a little at them all +astray and to no purpose, was satisfied, coughed, and sank upon a +chair, to put her bonnet off. Most women of her station wore only a +_mutch_ or close cap, but Tibbie wore a bonnet with a brilliantly gay +ribbon, so fond was she of bright colours, although she had nothing but +the testimony of others, vague enough ere it succeeded in crossing the +dark distances of her brain, as to the effect of those even with which +she adorned her own person. Her room was very bare, but as clean as it +was possible for room to be. Her bed was in the wall which divided it +from the rest of the house, and this one room was her whole habitation. +The other half of the cottage was occupied by an old cripple, nearly +bedridden, to whose many necessities Tibbie used to minister. The eyes +of the one and the legs of the other worked in tolerable harmony; and +if they had a quarrel now and then, it was no greater than gave a zest +to their intercourse. These particulars, however, Annie did not learn +till afterwards. + +She looked all about the room, and seeing no sign of any dinner for +Tibbie, was reminded thereby that her own chance had considerably +diminished. + +"I maun awa hame," she said with a sigh. + +"Ay, lassie; they'll be bidin' their denner for ye." + +"Na, nae fear o' that," answered Annie, adding with another little +sigh, "I doot there winna be muckle o' the broth to the fore or I win +hame." + +"Weel jist bide, bairn, an' tak' a cup o' tay wi' me. It's a' 'at I hae +to offer ye. Will ye bide?" + +"Maybe I wad be i' yer gait," objected Annie feebly. + +"Na, na; nae fear o' that. Ye'll read a bit to me efterhin." + +"Ay will I." + +And Annie stayed all the afternoon with Tibbie, and went home with the +Bruces after the evening service. This was the beginning of her +acquaintance with Tibbie Dyster. + +It soon grew into a custom for Annie to take Tibbie home from the +chapel--a custom which the Bruces could hardly have objected to, had +they been so inclined. But they were not so inclined, for it saved the +broth--that is, each of them got a little more in consequence, and +Annie's absence was therefore a Sabbath blessing. + +Much as she was neglected at home, however, Annie was steadily gaining +a good reputation in the town. Old men said she was a gude bairn, and +old women said she was a douce lassie; while those who enjoyed finding +fault more than giving praise, turned their silent approbation of Annie +into expressions of disapproval of the Bruces--"lattin' her gang like a +beggar, as gin she was no kith or kin o' theirs, whan it's weel kent +whase heifer Rob Bruce is plooin' wi'." + +But Robert nevertheless grew and prospered all day, and dreamed at +night that he was the king, digging the pits for the English cavalry, +and covering them again with the treacherous turf. Somehow the dream +never went further. The field and the kingship would vanish and he only +remain, the same Robert Bruce, the general dealer, plotting still, but +in his own shop. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + + +Responsive to Mr Cupples's last words uttered from the brink of the pit +into which his spirit was sinking, and probably forgotten straightway, +Alec knocked at his door upon the Sunday evening, and entered. The +strange creature was sitting in the same position as before, looking as +if he had not risen since he spoke those words. But there was an +alteration in the place, a certain Sunday look about the room, which +Alec could not account for. The same caricatures jested from the walls; +the same tumbler of toddy was steaming on the table amidst the same +litter of books and papers covered with the same dust and marked with +the same circles from the bottoms of wet tumblers and glasses. The same +cutty-clay, of enviable blackness, reposed between the teeth of Mr +Cupples. + +After he had been seated for a few moments, however, Alec all at once +discovered the source of the reformation-look of the place: Mr Cupples +had on a shirt-collar--clean and of imposing proportions. To this no +doubt was attached a shirt, but as there was no further sign of its +presence, it could not have affected the aspect of things. Although, +however, this shirt-collar was no doubt the chief cause of the change +of expression in the room, Alec, in the course of the evening, +discovered further signs of improvement in the local morals; one, that +the hearth had been cleared of a great heap of ashes, and now looked +modest and moderate as if belonging to an old maid's cottage, instead +of an old bachelor's garret; and another, that, upon the untidy table, +lay an open book of divinity, a volume of Gurnall's _Christian Armour_ +namely, which I fear Mr Cupples had chosen more for its wit than its +devotion. While making these discoveries, Alec chanced to observe--he +was quick-eyed--that some of the dusty papers on the table were +scrawled over with the first amorphous appearance of metrical +composition. These moved his curiosity; for what kind of poetry could +the most unpoetic-looking Mr Cupples produce from that great head of +his with the lanky colourless hair?--But meantime we must return to the +commencement of the interview. + +"Ony mair Greek, laddie?" asked Mr Cupples. + +"No, thank you, sir," answered Alec. "I only came to see you. You told +me to come again to-night." + +"Did I? Well, it may stand. But I protest against being made +accountable for anything that fellow Cupples may choose to say when I'm +not at home." + +Here he emptied his glass of toddy, and filled it again from the +tumbler. + +"Shall I go away?" asked Alec, half bewildered. + +"No, no; sit still. You're a good sort of innocent, I think. I won't +give you any toddy though. You needn't look so greedy at it." + +"I don't want any toddy, sir. I never drank a tumbler in my life." + +"For God's sake," exclaimed Mr Cupples, with sudden energy, leaning +forward in his chair, his blue eyes flashing on Alec--"for God's sake, +never drink a drop.--Rainbows. Rainbows." + +These last two words were spoken after a pause, and in a tone of +sadness. Alec thought he was drunk again, and half rose to go. + +"Dinna gang yet," said Mr Cupples, authoritatively. "Ye come at yer ain +will: ye maun gang at mine.--Gin I cud but get a kick at that fellow +Cupples! But I declare I canna help it. Gin I war God, I wad cure him +o' drink. It's the verra first thing I wad do." + +Alec could not help being shocked at the irreverence of the words. But +the solemnity of Mr Cupples's face speedily dissipated the feeling. +Suddenly changing his tone, he went on: + +"What's your name?" + +"Alec Forbes." + +"Alec Forbes. I'll try to remember it. I seldom remember anybody's +name, though. I sometimes forget my own. What was the fellow's name you +thrashed the other day?" + +"Patrick Beauchamp. I did not mention it before." + +"The deevil it was!" exclaimed Mr Cupples, half-starting from his seat. +"Did ye gie him a _richt_ thrashin'?" + +"I think he had the worst of it. He gave in, any way." + +"He comes of a bad lot! I know all about them. They're from Strathspey, +where my father came from--at least his father was. If the young fellow +turns out well, it'll be a wonder. I'll tell you all about them." + +Mr Cupples here launched into a somewhat discursive account of Patrick +Beauchamp's antecedents, indicating by its minuteness that there must +have been personal relations of some kind between them or their +families. Perhaps he glanced at something of the sort when he said that +old Beauchamp was a hard man even for a lawyer. I will condense the +story from the more diffuse conversational narrative, interrupted by +question and remark on the part of Alec, and give it the shape of +formal history. + +Beauchamp's mother was the daughter of a Highland chief, whose pedigree +went back to an Irish king of date so remote that his existence was +doubtful to every one not personally interested in the extraction. Mrs +Beauchamp had all the fierceness without much of the grace belonging to +the Celtic nature. Her pride of family, even, had not prevented her +from revenging herself upon her father, who had offended her, by +running away with a handsome W.S., who, taken with her good looks, and +flattered by the notion of overcoming her pride, had found a +conjunction of circumstances favourable to the conquest. It was not +long, however, before both repented of the step. That her father should +disown her was not of much consequence in any point of view, but that +nobody in Edinburgh would admit her claims to distinction--which arose +from the fact that they were so unpleasantly asserted that no one could +endure herself--did disgust her considerably; and her annoyance found +vent in abuse of her husband for having failed to place her in the +sphere to which she had a just claim. The consequence was, that he +neglected her; and she sat at home brooding over her wrongs, despising +and at length hating her husband, and meditating plans of revenge as +soon as her child should be born. At length, within three months after +the birth of Patrick, she found that he was unfaithful to her, and +immediately demanded a separate maintenance. To this her husband made +no further objection than policy required. But when she proceeded to +impose an oath upon him that he would never take her child from her, +the heart of the father demurred. Whereupon she swore that, if ever he +made the attempt, she would poison the child rather than that he should +succeed. He turned pale as death, and she saw that she had gained her +point. And, indeed, the woman was capable of anything to which she had +made up her mind--a power over one's self and friends not desirable +except in view of such an object as that of _Lady Macbeth_. But Mrs +Beauchamp, like her, considered it only a becoming strength of spirit, +and would have despised herself if she had broken one resolution for +another indubitably better. So her husband bade her farewell, and made +no lamentation except over the probable result of such training as the +child must receive at the hands of such a mother. She withdrew to a +country town not far from the Moray Frith, where she might live +comfortably on her small income, be a person of some consideration, and +reap all the advantages of the peculiar facilities which the place +afforded for the education of her boy, whom she would mould and model +after her own heart. + +"So you see, Mr--I forget yer name--Forbes? yes, Forbes, if the rascal +takes after his mother, you have made a dangerous enemy," said Mr +Cupples, in conclusion. + +Alec laughed. + +"I advise you," resumed Mr Cupples, "to keep a gleg ee in yer heid, +though--seriously. A body may lauch ower aften. It winna do to gang +glowerin' at rainbows. They're bonnie things, but they're nae +brig-backs. Gin ye lippen to them, ye'll be i' the water in a +cat-loup." + +Alec was beginning to enter into the humour of the man. + +"I see something like poetry lying about the table, Mr Cupples," said +he, with a sly allusion to the _rainbows_. "Would you let me look at +it?" + +Mr Cupples glanced at him sharply; but replied immediately: + +"Broken bits o' them! And the rainbows cast (lose colour) awfu', ance +ye tak' the key-stane oot o' them. Lat them sit up there, brigs +(bridges) ower naething, wi' nae road upo' the tap o' them, like the +stane brig o' Drumdochart efter the spate (flood). Haud yer han's and +yer een aff o' them, as I tellt ye afore.--Ay, ay, ye can luik at thae +screeds gin ye like. Only dinna say a word to me aboot ony o' them. And +tak' warnin' by them yersel, never to write ae word o' poetry, to haud +ye frae rivin'." + +"Sma' fear o' that!" returned Alec, laughing. + +"Weel, I houp sae.--Ye can mak a kirk an' a mill o' them, gin ye like. +They hae lain there lang eneuch. Noo, haud yer tongue. I'm gaein to +fill my pipe again, afore I burn oot the dottle. I winna drink mair the +nicht, cause it's the Sabbath, and I'm gaein to read my buik." + +So saving, he proceeded to get the _dottle_ out of his pipe, by +knocking it on the hob; while Alec took up the paper that lay nearest. +He found it contained a fragment of a poem in the Scotch language; and, +searching amongst the rest of the scattered sheets, he soon got the +whole of it together. + +Now, although Alec had but little acquaintance with verse, he was able, +thanks to Annie Anderson, to enjoy a ballad very heartily; and there +was something in this one which, associating itself in his mind with +the strange being before him, moved him more than he could account for. +It was called + + TIME AND TIDE. + + As I was walkin' on the strand, + I spied an auld man sit + On ane auld rock; and aye the waves + Cam washin' to its fit. + And aye his lips gaed mutterin', + And his ee was dull and blae. + As I cam near, he luik'd at me, + But this was a' his say: + "Robbie and Jeannie war twa bonnie bairns, + And they played thegither upo' the shore: + Up cam the tide 'tween the mune and the sterns, + And pairtit the twa wi' an eerie roar." + + What can the auld man mean, quo' I, + Sittin' upo' the auld rock? + The tide creeps up wi' moan and cry, + And a hiss 'maist like a mock. + The words he mutters maun be the en' + O' a weary dreary sang-- + A deid thing floatin' in his brain, + That the tide will no lat gang. + "Robbie and Jeannie war twa bonnie bairns, + And they played thegither upo' the shore: + Up cam the tide 'tween the mune and the sterns, + And pairtit the twa wi' an eerie roar." + + What pairtit them, auld man? I said; + Did the tide come up ower strang? + 'Twas a braw deith for them that gaed, + Their troubles warna lang. + Or was ane ta'en, and the ither left-- + Ane to sing, ane to greet? + It's sair, richt sair, to be bereft, + But the tide is at yer feet. + "Robbie and Jeannie war twa bonnie bairns, + And they played thegither upo' the shore: + Up cam the tide 'tween the mune and the sterns, + And pairtit the twa wi' an eerie roar." + + Maybe, quo' I, 'twas Time's gray sea, + Whase droonin' 's waur to bide; + But Death's a diver, seekin' ye + Aneath its chokin' tide. + And ye'll luik in ane anither's ee + Triumphin' ower gray Time. + But never a word he answered me, + But ower wi' his dreary chime-- + "Robbie and Jeannie war twa bonnie bairns, + And they played thegither upo' the shore: + Up cam the tide 'tween the mune and the sterns, + And pairtit the twa wi' an eerie roar." + + Maybe, auld man, said I, 'twas Change + That crap atween the twa? + Hech! that's a droonin' awfu' strange, + Ane waur than ane and a'. + He spak nae mair. I luik't and saw + That the auld lips cudna gang. + The tide unseen took him awa-- + Left me to end his sang: + "Robbie and Jeannie war twa bonnie bairns, + And they played thegither upo' the shore: + Up cam the tide 'tween the mune and the sterns, + And tuik them whaur pairtin' shall be no more." + +Before he had finished reading, the refrain had become so familiar to +Alec, that he unconsciously murmured the last, changed as it was from +the preceding form, aloud. Mr Cupples looked up from Gurnall uneasily, +fidgeted in his chair, and said testily: + +"A' nonsense! Moonshine and rainbows! Haud yer tongue! The last line's +a' wrang." + +He then returned with a determined air to the consideration of his +_Christian Armour_, while Alec, in whom the minor tone of the poem had +greatly deepened the interest he felt in the writer, gazed at him in a +bewilderment like that one feels when his eyes refuse to take their +proper relation to the perspective before them. He could not get those +verses and Mr Cupples into harmony. Not daring to make any observation, +however, he sat with the last leaf still in his hand, and a reverential +stare upon his face, which at length produced a remarkable effect upon +the object of it. Suddenly lifting his eyes-- + +"What are ye glowerin' at me for?" he exclaimed, flinging his book from +him, which, missing the table, fell on the floor on the further side of +it. "I'm neither ghaist nor warlock. Damn ye! gang oot, gin ye be gaun +to stick me throu and throu wi' yer een, that gait." + +"I beg your pardon, Mr Cupples. I didn't mean to be rude," said Alec +humbly. + +"Weel, cut yer stick, I hae eneuch o' ye for ae nicht. I canna stan' +glowerin' een, especially i' the heids o' idiots o' innocents like +you." + +I am sorry to have to record what Alec learned from the landlady +afterwards, that Mr Cupples went to bed that night, notwithstanding it +was the Sabbath, more drunk than she had ever known him. Indeed he +could not properly be said to have gone to bed at all, for he had +tumbled on the counter-pane in his clothes and clean shirt-collar; +where she had found him fast asleep the next morning, with Gurnall's +_Christian Armour_ terribly crumpled under him. + +"But," said Alec, "what _is_ Mr Cupples?" + +"That's a queston he cudna weel answer ye himsel'," was the reply. "He +does a heap o' things; writes for the lawyers whiles; buys and sells +queer buiks; gies lessons in Greek and Hebrew--but he disna like +that--he canna bide to be contred, and laddies is gey contresome; helps +onybody that wants help i' the way o' figures--whan their buiks gang +wrang ye ken, for figures is some ill for jummlin'. He's a kin' o' +librarian at yer ain college i' the noo, Mr Forbes. The auld man's +deid, and Mr Cupples is jist doin' the wark. They winna gie him the +place--'cause he has an ill name for drink--but they'll get as muckle +wark oot o' him as gin they did, and for half the siller. The body +hauds at onythiug weel eneuch a' day, but the minute he comes hame, oot +comes the tappit hen, and he jist sits doon and drinks till he turns +the warl upo' the tap o' 'm." + +The next day, about noon, Alec went into the library, where he found Mr +Cupples busy re-arranging the books and the catalogue, both of which +had been neglected for years. This was the first of many visits to the +library, or rather to the librarian. + +There was a certain mazy sobriety of demeanour about Mr Cupples all day +long, as if in the presence of such serious things as books he was +bound to be upon his good behaviour, and confine his dissipation to +taking snuff in prodigious quantities. He was full of information about +books, and had, besides, opinions concerning them, which were always +ready to assume quaint and decided expression. For instance: one +afternoon, Alec having taken up _Tristram Shandy_ and asked him what +kind of a book it was, the pro-librarian snatched it from his hands and +put it on the shelf again, answering: + +"A pailace o' dirt and impidence and speeeritual stink. The clever +deevil had his entrails in his breest and his hert in his belly, and +regairdet neither God nor his ain mither. His lauchter's no like the +cracklin' o' thorns unner a pot, but like the nicherin' o' a deil ahin' +the wainscot. Lat him sit and rot there!" + +Asking him another day what sort of poet Shelley was, Alec received the +answer: + +"A bonny cratur, wi' mair thochts nor there was room for i' the bit +heid o' 'm. Consequently he gaed staiggerin' aboot as gin he had been +tied to the tail o' an inveesible balloon. Unco licht heidit, but no +muckle hairm in him by natur'." + +He never would remain in the library after the day began to ebb. The +moment he became aware that the first filmy shadow had fallen from the +coming twilight, he caught up his hat, locked the door, gave the key to +the sacrist, and hurried away. + +The friendly relation between the two struck its roots deeper and +deeper during the session, and Alec bade him good-bye with regret. + +Mr Cupples was a baffled poet trying to be a humourist--baffled--not by +the booksellers or the public--for such baffling one need not have a +profound sympathy--but baffled by his own weakness, his incapacity for +assimilating sorrow, his inability to find or invent a theory of the +universe which should show it still beautiful despite of passing pain, +of checked aspiration, of the ruthless storms that lay waste the Edens +of men, and dissolve the high triumph of their rainbows. He had yet to +learn that through "the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that +flesh is heir to," man becomes capable of the blessedness to which all +the legends of a golden age point. Not finding, when he most needed it, +such a theory even in the New Testament--for he had been diligently +taught to read it awry--Mr Cupples took to jesting and toddy; but, +haunting the doors of Humour, never got further than the lobby. + +With regard to Patrick Beauchamp, as far as Alec could see, his dignity +had succeeded in consoling itself for the humiliation it had undergone, +by an absolute and eternal renunciation of all knowledge of Alec +Forbes's existence. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + + +Winter had begun to withdraw his ghostly troops, and Glamerton began to +grow warmer. Not half so many cold feet dangled from the cold legs of +little children in the torturing churches; not half so many coughs tore +the chests of the poor old men and women as they stooped over their +little fires, with the blasts from door and window-sill in their ankles +and the backs of their necks. Annie, who had been very happy all the +time, began to be aware of something more at hand. A flutter scarcely +recognizable, as of the wings of awaking delight, would stir her little +heart with a sensation of physical presence and motion; she would find +herself giving an involuntary skip as she walked along, and now and +then humming a bit of a psalm tune. A hidden well was throbbing in the +child's bosom. Its waters had been frozen by the winter; and the +spring, which sets all things springing, had made it flow and swell +afresh, soon to break bubbling forth. But her joy was gentle, for even +when she was merriest, it was in a sobor, _douce_, and maidenly +fashion, testifying that she had already walked with Sorrow, and was +not afraid of her. + +Robert Bruce's last strategical move against the community had been +tolerably successful, even in his own eyes; and he was consequently so +far satisfied with himself, that he could afford to be in good humour +with other people. Annie came in for a share of this humour; and +although she knew him too well to have any regard for him, it was yet a +comfort to her to be on such terms with him as not to have to dread a +bitter word every time she chanced to meet him. This comfort, however, +stood on a sandy foundation; for the fact that an expected customer had +not called upon the Saturday might be enough to set the acetous +fermentation at work all the Sunday in the bosom of Robert Bruce. + +At length, one bright day in the end of March, Alec came home, not the +worse to friendly eyes for having been at college. He seemed the same +cheery, active youth as before. The chief differences apparent were, +that he had grown considerably, and that he wore a coat. The hat, at +that time a necessary portion of the college costume, he had discarded, +wearing his old cap in preference. There was likewise a certain +indescribable alteration in tone and manner, a certain general +crystallization and polish, which the same friends regarded as an +indubitable improvement. + +The day after his arrival, crossing the square of Glamerton, he spied, +in a group of men talking together, his old friend, Thomas Crann. He +went up and shook hands with him, and with Andrew Constable, the +clothier. + +"Has na he grown a lang chield?" said Andrew to Thomas, regarding Alec +kindly. + +"Humph!" returned Thomas, "he'll jist need the langer coffin." + +Alec laughed; but Andrew said, "Hoot! hoot!" + +Thomas and Alec walked away together. But scarcely a sentence had been +exchanged before the stonemason, with a delicacy of perception of which +his rough manner and horny hands gave no indication, felt that a film +of separation had come between the youth and himself. Anxious to break +through it, he said abruptly, + +"Hoo's yer immortal pairt, Alec? Min' ye, there's a knowledge that +worketh deith." + +Alec laughed--not scornfully--but he laughed. + +"Ye may lauch, Alec, but it's a sair trowth," said the mason. + +Alec held out his hand, for here their way diverged. Thomas shook it +kindly, but walked away gloomy. Arrived at home, he shut to his door, +and went down on his knees by his bedside. When Jean came with his +supper she found the door fast. + +In order to prepare for the mathematical studies of the following year, +Alec went to the school again in the morning of most days, Mr Malison +being well able to render him all the assistance he required. The first +time he made his appearance at the door, a silence as of death was the +sign of his welcome; but a tumult presently arose, and discipline was +for a time suspended. I am afraid he had a slight feeling of +condescension, as he returned the kind greeting of his old +companions.--Raise a housemaid to be cook, and she will condescend to +the new housemaid. + +Annie sat still, staring at her book, and turning red and pale +alternately. But he took no notice of her, and she tried to be glad of +it. + +When school was over, however, he came up to her in the lane, and +addressed her kindly. + +But the delicate little maiden felt, as the rough stonemason had felt, +that a change had passed over the old companion and friend. True, the +change was only a breath--a mere shadow. Yet it was a measureless gulf +between them. Annie went to her garret that night with a sense of sad +privation. + +But her pain sprung from a source hardly so deep as that of the +stonemason. For the change she found in Alec was chiefly of an external +kind, and if she had a vague feeling of a deeper change, it had +scarcely yet come up into her consciousness. When she saw the _young +gentleman_ her heart sank within her. Her friend was lost; and a shape +was going about, as he did, looking awfully like the old Alec, who had +carried her in his arms through the invading torrent. Nor was there +wanting, to complete the bewilderment of her feeling, a certain +additional reverence for the apparition, which she must after all +regard as a further development of the same person. + +Mrs Forbes never asked her to the house now, and it was well for her +that her friendship with Tibbie Dyster had begun. But as she saw Alec +day after day at school, the old colours began to revive out of the +faded picture--for to her it was a faded picture, although new +varnished. And when the spring had advanced a little, the boat was got +out, and then Alec could not go rowing in the _Bonnie Annie_ without +thinking of its godmother, and inviting her to join them. Indeed Curly +would not have let him forget her if he had been so inclined; for he +felt that she was a bond between him and Alec, and he loved Alec the +more devotedly that the rift between their social positions had begun +to show itself. The devotion of the schoolboy to his superior in +schoolboy arts had begun to change into something like the devotion of +the clansman to his chief--not the worst folly the world has known--in +fact not a folly at all, except it stop there: many enthusiasms are +follies only because they are not greater enthusiasms. And not +unfrequently would an odd laugh of consciousness between Annie and +Curly, unexpectedly meeting, reveal the fact that they were both +watching for a peep or a word of Alec. + +In due time the harvest came; and Annie could no more keep from +haunting the harvest than the crane could keep from flying south when +the summer is over. She watched all the fields around Glamerton; she +knew what response each made to the sun, and which would first be ripe +for the reaping; and the very day that the sickle was put in, there was +Annie to see and share in the joy. How mysterious she thought those +long colonnades of slender pillars, each supporting its own waving +comet-head of barley! Or when the sun was high, she would lie down on +the ground, and look far into the little forest of yellow polished +oat-stems, stretching away and away into the unseen--alas, so soon to +fall, and leave a naked commonplace behind! If she were only small +enough to go wandering about in it, what wonders might she not +discover!--But I forget that I am telling a story, and not writing a +fairy-tale.--Unquestioned as uninvited, she was, as she had often been +before, one of the company of reapers, gatherers, binders, and +stookers, assembled to collect the living gold of the earth from the +early fields of the farm of Howglen. Sadly her thoughts went back to +the old days when Dowie was master of the field, and she was Dowie's +little mistress. Not that she met with anything but kindness--only it +was not the kindness she had had from Dowie. But the pleasure of being +once more near Alec almost made up for every loss. And he was quite +friendly, although, she must confess, not quite so familiar as of old. +But that did not matter, she assured herself. + +The labourers all knew her, and themselves took care that she should +have the portion of their food which her assistance had well earned, +and which was all her wages. She never refused anything that was +offered her, except money. That she had taken only once in her +life--from Mr Cowie, whom she continued to love the more dearly for it, +although she no longer attended his church. + +But again the harvest was safely lodged, and the sad old age of the +year sank through rains and frosts to his grave. + +The winter came and Alec went. + +He had not been gone a week when Mrs Forbes's invitations re-commenced; +and, as if to make up for the neglect of the summer, they were more +frequent than before. No time was so happy for Annie as the time she +spent with her. She never dreamed of accusing her of fickleness or +unevenness, but received whatever kindness she offered with gratitude. +And, this winter, she began to make some return in the way of household +assistance. + +One day, while searching in the lumber-room for something for Mrs +Forbes, she came upon a little book lying behind a box. It was damp and +swollen and mouldy, and the binding was decayed and broken. The inside +was dingy and spotted with brown spots, and had too many f's in it, as +she thought. Yet the first glance fascinated her. It had opened in the +middle of _L'Allegro_. Mrs Forbes found her standing spell-bound, +reading the rhymed poems of the man whose blank-verse, two years +before, she had declined as not what poetry ought to be. I have often +seen a child refuse his food, and, after being compelled to eat one +mouthful, gladly devour the whole. In like manner Annie, having once +tasted Milton's poetry, did not let it go till she had devoured even +the _Paradise Lost_, of which when she could not make sense, she at +least made music-the chords of old John Milton's organ sounding through +his son's poetry in the brain of a little Scotch lassie who never heard +an organ in her life. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. + + +"Hillo, bantam!" exclaimed Mr Cupples, to Alec entering his garret +within an hour of his arrival in his old quarters, and finding the soul +of the librarian still hovering in the steam of his tumbler, like one +of Swedenborg's damned over the odour of his peculiar hell. As he spoke +he emptied the glass, the custom of drinking from which, instead of +from the tumbler itself--rendering it impossible to get drunk all at +once--is one of the atonements offered by the Scotch to their tutelar +god--Propriety.--"Come awa'. What are ye stan'in' there for, as gin ye +warna at hame," he added, seeing that Alec lingered on the threshold. +"Sit doon. I'm nae a'thegither sorry to see ye." + +"Have you been to the country, Mr Cupples?" asked Alec, as he took a +chair. + +"The country! Na, I haena been i' the country. I'm a toon-snail. The +country's for calves and geese. It's ower green for me. I like the gray +stanes--weel biggit, to haud oot the cauld. I jist reverse the opingon +o' the auld duke in Mr Shackspere;--for this my life + + 'Find trees in tongues, its running brooks in books, + Stones in sermons,---' + +and I canna gang on ony farther wi' 't. The last's true ony gait. I +winna gie ye ony toddy though." + +"I dinna want nane." + +"That's richt. Keep to that negation as an anchor o' the soul, sure and +steadfast. There's no boddom to the sea ye'll gang doon in gin ye cut +the cable that hauds ye to that anchor. Here's to ye!" + +And again Mr Cupples emptied his glass. + +"Hoo are ye prepared for yer mathematics?" he resumed. + +"Middlin' only," answered Alec. + +"I was doobtin' that. Sma' preparation does weel eneuch for Professor +Fraser's Greek; but ye'll fin' it's anither story wi' the mathematics. +Ye maun jist come to me wi' them as ye did wi' the Greek." + +"Thank you, Mr Cupples," said Alec heartily. "I don't know how to repay +you." + +"Repay me! I want nae repayment. Only spier nae questons at me, and +gang awa whan I'm drunk." + +After all his summer preparation, Alec was still behind in mathematics; +for while, with a distinct object in view, he was capable of +much--without one, reading was a weariness to him. His medical studies, +combining, as they did, in their anatomical branch, much to be learned +by the eye and the hand with what was to be learned from books, +interested him more and more. + +One afternoon, intent upon a certain course of investigation, he +remained in the dissecting room after the other students had gone, and +worked away till it grew dark. He then lighted a candle, and worked on. +The truth was unfolding itself gently and willingly. At last, feeling +tired, he laid down his scalpel, dropped upon a wooden chair, and, cold +as it was, fell fast asleep. When he awoke, the candle was _bobbing_ in +its socket, alternately lighting and shadowing the dead man on the +table. Strange glooms were gathering about the bottles on the shelves, +and especially about one corner of the room, where--but I must not +particularize too much. It must be remembered that he had awaked +suddenly, in a strange place, and with a fitful light. He confessed to +Mr Cupples that he had felt a little uncomfortable--not frightened, but +_eerie_. He was just going to rise and go home, when, as he stretched +out his hand for his scalpel, the candle sunk in darkness, and he lost +the guiding glitter of the knife. At the same moment, he caught a +doubtful gleam of two eyes looking in at him from one of the windows. +That moment the place became insupportable with horror. The vague sense +of an undefined presence turned the school of science into a +charnel-house. He started up, hurried from the room, feeling as if his +feet took no hold of the floor and his back was fearfully exposed, +locked the door, threw the key upon the porter's table, and fled. He +did not recover his equanimity till he found himself in the long narrow +street that led to his lodgings, lighted from many little shop-windows +in stone gable and front. + +By the time he had had his tea, and learned a new proposition of +Euclid, the fright seemed to lie far behind him. It was not so far as +he thought, however, for he started to his feet when a sudden gust of +wind shook his windows. But then it was a still frosty night, and such +a gust was not to be expected. He looked out. Far above shone the +stars. + +"How they sparkle in the frost!" he said, as if the frost reached them. +But they did look like the essential life that makes snow-flakes and +icy spangles everywhere--they were so like them, only they were of +fire. Even snow itself must have fire at the heart of it.--All was +still enough up there. + +Then he looked down into the street, full of the comings and goings of +people, some sauntering and staring, others hastening along. Beauchamp +was looking in at the window of a second-hand book-shop opposite. + +Not being able to compose himself again to his studies, he resolved, as +he had not called on Mr Fraser for some time, and the professor had not +been at the class that day, to go and inquire after him now. + +Mr Fraser lived in the quadrangle of the college; but in the mood Alec +was in, nothing would do him so much good as a walk in the frost. He +was sure of a welcome from the old man; for although Alec gave but +little attention to Greek now, Mr Fraser was not at all dissatisfied +with him, knowing that he was doing his best to make himself a good +doctor. His friendliness towards him had increased; for he thought he +saw in him noble qualities; and now that he was an old man, he +delighted to have a youth near him with whose youthfulness he could +come into harmonious contact. It is because the young cannot recognize +the youth of the aged, and the old will not acknowledge the experience +of the young, that they repel each other. + +Alec was shown into the professor's drawing-room. This was unusual. The +professor was seated in an easy-chair, with one leg outstretched before +him. + +"Excuse me, Mr Forbes," he said, holding out his left hand without +rising. "I am laid up with the gout--I don't know why. The port wine my +grandfather drunk, I suppose. _I_ never drink it. I'm afraid it's old +age. And yon's my nurse.--Mr Forbes, your cousin, Kate, my dear." + +Alec started. There, at the other side of the fire, sat a girl, half +smiling and half blushing as she looked up from her work. The candles +between them had hid her from him. He advanced, and she rose and held +out her hand. He was confused; she was perfectly collected, although +the colour rose a little more in her cheek. She might have been a year +older than Alec. + +"So you are a cousin of mine, Mr Forbes!" she said, when they were all +seated by the blazing fire--she with a piece of plain work in her +hands, he with a very awkward nothing in his, and the professor +contemplating his swathed leg on the chair before him. + +"So your uncle says," he answered, "and I am very happy to believe him. +I hope we shall be good friends." + +Alec was recovering himself. + +"I hope we shall," she responded, with a quick, shy, asking glance from +her fine eyes. + +Those eyes were worth looking into, if only as a study of colour. They +were of many hues marvellously blended. I think grey and blue and brown +and green were all to be found in them. Their glance rather discomposed +Alec. He had not learned before that ladies' eyes are sometimes very +discomposing. Yet he could not keep his from wandering towards them; +and the consequence was that he soon lost the greater part of his +senses. After sitting speechless for some moments, and feeling as if he +had been dumb for as many minutes, he was seized by a horrible +conviction that if he remained silent an instant longer, he would be +driven to do or say something absurd. So he did the latter at once by +bursting out with the stupid question, + +"What are you working at?" + +"A duster," she answered instantly--this time without looking up. + +Now the said duster was of the finest cambric; so that Alec could not +help seeing that she was making game of him. This banished his shyness, +and put him on his mettle. + +"I see," he said, "when I ask questions, you--" + +"Tell lies," she interposed, without giving him time even to hesitate; +adding, + +"Does your mother answer all your questions, Mr Forbes?" + +"I believe she does--one way or other." + +"Then it is sometimes the other way? Is she nice?" + +"Who?" returned Alec, surprised into doubt. + +"Your mother." + +"She's the best woman in the world," he answered with vehemence, almost +shocked at having to answer such a question. + +"Oh! I beg your pardon," returned Kate, laughing; and the laugh curled +her lip, revealing very pretty teeth, with a semi-transparent +pearly-blue shadow in them. + +"I am glad she is nice," she went on. "I should like to know her. +Mothers are not _always_ nice. I knew a girl at school whose mother +wasn't nice at all." + +She did not laugh after this childish speech, but let her face settle +into perfect stillness--sadness indeed, for a shadow came over the +stillness. Mr Fraser sat watching the two with his amused old face, one +side of it twitching in the effort to suppress the smile which sought +to break from the useful half of his mouth. His gout could not have +been very bad just then. + +"I see, Katie, what that long chin of yours is thinking," he said. + +"What is my chin thinking, uncle?" she asked. + +"That uncles are not always nice either. They snub little girls, +sometimes, don't they?" + +"I know one who _is_ nice, all except one naughty leg." + +She rose, as she said this, and going round to the back of his chair, +leaned over it, and kissed his forehead. The old man looked up to her +gratefully. + +"Ah, Katie!" he said, "you may make game of an old man like me. But +don't try your tricks on Mr Forbes there. He won't stand them." + +Alec blushed. Kate went back to her seat, and took up her duster again. + +Alec was a little short-sighted, though he had never discovered it till +now. When Kate leaned over her uncle's chair, near which he was +sitting, he saw that she was still prettier than he had thought her +before.--There are few girls who to a short-sighted person look +prettier when they come closer; the fact being that the general intent +of the face, which the generalizing effect of the shortness of the +sight reveals, has ordinarily more of beauty in it than has yet been +carried out in detail; so that, as the girl approaches, one face seems +to melt away, and another, less beautiful, to dawn up through it. + +But, as I have said, this was not Alec's experience with Kate; for, +whatever it might indicate, she looked prettier when she came nearer. +He found too that her great mass of hair, instead of being, as he had +thought, dull, was in reality full of glints and golden hints, as if +she had twisted up a handful of sunbeams with it in the morning, which, +before night, had faded a little, catching something of the duskiness +and shadowiness of their prison. One thing more he saw--that her +hand--she rested it on the back of the dark chair, and so it had caught +his eye--was small and white; and those were all the qualities Alec was +as yet capable of appreciating in a hand. Before she got back to her +seat, he was very nearly in love with her. I suspect that those +generally who fall in love at first sight have been in love before. At +least such was Romeo's case. And certainly it was not Alec's. Yet I +must confess, if he had talked stupidly before, he talked worse now; +and at length went home with the conviction that he had made a great +donkey of himself. + +As he walked the lonely road, and the street now fast closing its +windows and going to sleep, he was haunted by a very different vision +from that which had accompanied him a few hours ago. Then it was the +dead face of a man, into which his busy fancy had reset the living eyes +that he had seen looking in at the window of the dissecting room; now +it was the lovely face of his new-found cousin, possessing him so that +he could fear nothing. Life had cast out death. Love had cast out fear. + +But love had cast out more. For he found, when he got home, that he +could neither read nor think. If Kate could have been _conscious_ of +its persistent intrusion upon Alec's thoughts, and its constant +interruption of his attempts at study, she would have been ashamed of +that pretty face of hers, and ready to disown it for its forwardness. +At last, he threw his book to the other end of the room, and went to +bed, where he found it not half so difficult to go to sleep as it had +been to study. + +The next day things went better; for he was not yet so lost that a +night's rest could do him no good. But it was fortunate that there was +no Greek class, and that he was not called up to read Latin that day. +For the anatomy, he was in earnest about that; and love itself, so long +as its current is not troubled by opposing rocks, will not disturb the +studies of a real student--much. + +As he left the dissecting-room, he said to himself that he would just +look in and see how Mr Fraser was. He was shown into the professor's +study. + +Mr Fraser smiled as he entered with a certain grim comicality which +Alec's conscience interpreted into: "This won't do, my young man." + +"I hope your gout is better to-day, sir," he said, sending his glance +wide astray of his words. + +"Yes, I thank you, Mr Forbes," answered Mr Fraser, "it is better. Won't +you sit down?" + +Warned by that smile, Alec was astute enough to decline, and presently +took his leave. As he shut the study door, however, he thought he would +just peep into the dining-room, the door of which stood open opposite. +There she was, sitting at the table, writing. + +"Who can that letter be to?" thought Alec. But it was early days to be +jealous. + +"How do you do, Mr Forbes?" said Kate, holding out her hand. + +Could it be that he had seen her only yesterday? Or was his visual +memory so fickle that he had forgotten what she was like? She was so +different from what he had been fancying her! + +The fact was merely this--that she had been writing to an old friend, +and her manner for the time, as well as her expression, was affected by +her mental proximity to that friend;--so plastic--so fluent even--was +her whole nature. Indeed Alec was not long in finding out that one of +her witcheries was, that she was never the same. But on this the first +occasion, the alteration in her bewildered him. + +"I am glad to find your uncle better," he said. + +"Yes.--You have seen him, then?" + +"Yes. I was very busy in the dissecting-room, till--" + +He stopped; for he saw her shudder. + +"I beg your pardon," he hastened to substitute.--"We are so used to +those things, that--" + +"Don't say a word more about it, please," she said hastily. Then, in a +vague kind of way--"Won't you sit down?" + +"No, thank you. I must go home," answered Alec, feeling that she did +not want him. "Good night," he added, advancing a step. + +"Good night, Mr Forbes," she returned in the same vague manner, and +without extending her hand. + +Alec checked himself, bowed, and went with a feeling of mortification, +and the resolution not to repeat his visit too soon. + +She interfered with his studies notwithstanding, and sent him wandering +in the streets, when he ought to have been reading at home. One bright +moonlight night he found himself on the quay, and spying a boat at the +foot of one of the stairs, asked the man in it if he was ready for a +row. The man agreed. Alec got in, and they rowed out of the river, and +along the coast to a fishing village where the man lived, and whence +Alec walked home. This was the beginning of many such boating +excursions made by Alec in the close of this session. They greatly +improved his boatmanship, and strengthened his growing muscles. The end +of the winter was mild, and there were not many days unfit for the +exercise. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. + + +The next Saturday but one Alec received a note from Mr Fraser, hoping +that his new cousin had not driven him away, and inviting him to dine +that same afternoon. + +He went. After dinner the old man fell asleep in his chair. + +"Where were you born?" Alec asked Kate. + +She was more like his first impression of her. + +"Don't you know?" she replied. "In the north of Sutherlandshire--near +the foot of a great mountain, from the top of which, on the longest +day, you can see the sun, or a bit of him at least, all night long." + +"How glorious!" said Alec. + +"I don't know. _I_ never saw him. And the winters are so long and +terrible! Nothing but snowy hills about you, and great clouds always +coming down with fresh loads of snow to scatter over them." + +"Then you don't want to go back?" + +"No. There is nothing to make me wish to go back. There is no one there +to love me now." + +She looked very sad for a few moments. + +"Yes," said Alec, thoughtfully; "a winter without love must be +dreadful. But I like the winter; and we have plenty of it in our +quarter too." + +"Where is your home?" + +"Not many miles north of this." + +"Is it a nice place?" + +"Of course I think so." + +"Ah! you have a mother. I wish I knew her." + +"I wish you did.--True: the whole place is like her to me. But I don't +think everybody would admire it. There are plenty of bare snowy hills +there too in winter. But I think the summers and the harvests are as +delightful as anything can be, except--" + +"Except what?" + +"Don't make me say what will make you angry with me." + +"Now you must, else I shall fancy something that will make me _more_ +angry." + +"Except your face, then," said Alec, frightened at his own boldness, +but glancing at her shyly. + +She flushed a little, but did not look angry. + +"I don't like that," she said. "It makes one feel awkward." + +"At least," rejoined Alec, emboldened, "you must allow it is your own +fault." + +"I can't help my face," she said, laughing. + +"Oh! you know what I mean. You made me say it." + +"Yes, after you had half-said it already. Don't do it again." + +And there followed more of such foolish talk, uninteresting to my +readers. + +"Where were you at school?" asked Alec, after a pause. "Your uncle told +me you were at school." + +"Near London," she answered. + +"Ah! that accounts for your beautiful speech." + +"There again. I declare I will wake my uncle if you go on in that way." + +"I beg your pardon," protested Alec; "I forgot." + +"But," she went on, "in Sutherlandshire we don't talk so horribly as +they do here." + +"I daresay not," returned Alec, humbly. + +"I don't mean you. I wonder how it is that you speak so much better +than all the people here." + +"I suppose because my mother speaks well. She never lets me speak broad +Scotch to her." + +"Your mother again! She's everything to you." + +Alec did not reply. + +"I _should_ like to see her," pursued Kate. + +"You must come and see her, then." + +"See whom?" asked Mr Fraser, rousing himself from his nap. + +"My mother, sir," answered Alec. + +"Oh! I thought you had been speaking of Katie's friend," said the +professor, and fell asleep again. + +"Uncle means Bessie Warner, who is coming by the steamer from London on +Monday. Isn't it kind of uncle to ask her to come and see me here?" + +"He is kind always. Was Miss Warner a schoolfellow of yours?" + +"Yes--no--not exactly. She was one of the governesses. I _must_ go and +meet her at the steamer. Will you go with me?" + +"I shall be delighted. Do you know when she arrives?" + +"They say about six. I daresay it is not very punctual." + +"Oh! yes, she is--when the weather is decent. I will make inquiries, +and come and fetch you." + +"Thank you.--I suppose I may, uncle?" + +"What, my dear?" said the professor, rousing himself again. + +"Have my cousin to take care of me when I go to meet Bessie?" + +"Yes, certainly. I shall be much obliged to you, Mr Forbes. I am not +quite so agile as I was at your age, though my gouty leg _is_ better." + +This conversation would not have been worth recording were it not that +it led to the walk and the waiting on Monday.--They found, when they +reached the region of steamers, that she had not yet been signalled, +but her people were expecting the signal every minute. So Alec and Kate +walked out along the pier, to pass the time. This pier runs down the +side of the river, and a long way into the sea. It had begun to grow +dark, and Alec had to take great care of Kate amongst the tramways, +coils of rope, and cables that crossed their way. At length they got +clear of these, and found themselves upon the pier, built of great +rough stones--lonely and desert, tapering away into the dark, its end +invisible, but indicated by the red light far in front. + +"It is a rough season of the year for a lady to come by sea," said +Alec. + +"Bessie is very fond of the sea," answered Kate. "I hope you will like +her, Mr Forbes." + +"Do you want me to like her better than you?" rejoined Alec. "Because +if you do--" + +"Look how beautiful that red light is on the other side of the river," +interrupted Kate. "And there is another further out." + +"When the man at the helm gets those two lights in a line," said Alec, +"he may steer straight in, in the darkest night--that is, if the tide +serves for the bar." + +"Look how much more glorious the red shine is on the water below!" said +Kate. + +"It looks so wet!" returned Alec,--"just like blood." + +He almost cursed himself as he said so, for he felt Kate's hand stir as +if she would withdraw it from his arm. But after fluttering like a bird +for a moment, it settled again upon its perch, and there rested. + +The day had been quite calm, but now a sudden gust of wind from the +north-east swept across the pier and made Kate shiver. Alec drew her +shawl closer about her, and her arm further within his. They were now +close to the sea. On the other side of the wall which rose on their +left, they could hear the first of the sea-waves. It was a dreary +place--no sound even indicating the neighbourhood of life. On one side, +the river below them went flowing out to the sea in the dark, giving a +cold sluggish gleam now and then, as if it were a huge snake heaving up +a bend of its wet back, as it hurried away to join its fellows; on the +other side rose a great wall of stone, beyond which was the sound of +long waves following in troops out of the dark, and falling upon a low +moaning coast. Clouds hung above the sea; and above the clouds two or +three disconsolate stars. + +"Here is a stair," said Alec. "Let us go up on the top of the sea-wall, +and then we shall catch the first glimpse of the light at her funnel." + +They climbed the steep rugged steps, and stood on the broad wall, +hearing the sea-pulses lazily fall at its foot. The wave crept away +after it fell, and returned to fall again like a weary hound. There was +hardly any life in the sea. How mournful it was to lie out there, the +wintry night, beneath an all but starless heaven, with the wind vexing +it when it wanted to sleep! + +Alec feeling Kate draw a deep breath like the sigh of the sea, looked +round in her face. There was still light enough to show it frowning and +dark and sorrowful and hopeless. It was in fact a spiritual mirror, +which reflected in human forms the look of that weary waste of waters. +She gave a little start, gathered herself together, and murmured +something about the cold. + +"Let us go down again," said Alec.--"The wind has risen considerably, +and the wall will shelter us down below." + +"No, no," she answered; "I like it. We can walk here just as well. I +don't mind the wind." + +"I thought you were afraid of falling off." + +"No, not in the dark. I should be, I daresay, if I could see how far we +are from the bottom." + +So they walked on. The waves no longer fell at the foot of the wall, +but leaned their breasts against it, gleaming as they rose on its +front, and darkening as they sank low towards its deep base. + +The wind kept coming in gusts, tearing a white gleam now and then on +the dark surface of the sea. Behind them shone the dim lights of the +city; before them all was dark as eternity, except for the one light at +the end of the pier. At length Alec spied another out at sea. + +"I believe that is the steamer," he said. "But she is a good way off. +We shall have plenty of time to walk to the end--that is, if you would +like to go." + +"Certainly; let us go on. I want to stand on the very point," answered +Kate. + +They soon came to the lighthouse on the wall, and there descended to +the lower part of the pier, the end of which now plunged with a steep +descent into the sea. It was constructed of great stones clamped with +iron, and built into a natural foundation of rock. Up the slope the +waves rushed, and down the slope they sank again, with that seemingly +aimless and resultless rise and fall, which makes the sea so dreary and +sad to those men and women who are not satisfied without some goal in +view, some outcome of their labours; for it goes on and on, answering +ever to the call of sun and moon, and the fierce trumpet of the winds, +yet working nothing but the hopeless wear of the bosom in which it lies +bound for ever. + +They stood looking out into the great dark before them, dark air, dark +sea, dark sky, watching the one light which grew brighter as they +gazed. Neither of them saw that a dusky figure was watching them from +behind a great cylindrical stone that stood on the end of the pier, +close to the wall. + +A wave rushed up almost to their feet. + +"Let us go," said Kate, with a shiver. "I can't bear it longer. The +water is calling me and threatening me. There! How that wave rushed up +as if it wanted me at once!" + +Alec again drew her closer to him, and turning, they walked slowly +back. He was silent with the delight of having that lovely creature all +to himself, leaning on his arm, in the infolding and protecting +darkness, and Kate was likewise silent. + +By the time they reached the quay at the other end of the pier, the +steamer had crossed the bar, and they could hear the _thud_ of her +paddles treading the water beneath them, as if eagerly because she was +near her rest. After a few struggles, she lay quiet in her place, and +they went on board. + +Alec saw Kate embrace a girl perhaps a little older than herself, +helped her to find her luggage, put them into a chaise, took his leave, +and went home. + +He did not know that all the way back along the pier they had been +followed by Patrick Beauchamp. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + + +Excited, and unable to settle to his work, Alec ran upstairs to Mr +Cupples, whom he had not seen for some days. He found him not more than +half-way towards his diurnal goal. + +"What's come o' _you_, bantam, this mony a day?" said Mr Cupples. + +"I saw ye last Saturday," said Alec. + +"Last Setterday week, ye mean," rejoined the librarian. "Hoo's the +mathematics comin' on?" + +"To tell the truth, I'm raither ahin' wi' them," answered Alec. + +"I was thinkin' as muckle. Rainbows! Thae rainbows! And the anawtomy?" + +"Nae jist stan'in' still a'thegither." + +"That's weel. Ye haena been fa'in' asleep again ower the guddlet +carcass o' an auld pauper--hae ye?" + +Alec stared. He had never told any one of his adventure in the +dissecting-room. + +"I saw ye, my man. But I wasna the only ane that saw ye. Ye micht hae +gotten a waur fleg gin I hadna come up, for Mr Beauchamp was takin' the +bearin's o' ye throu the window, and whan I gaed up, he slippit awa' +like a wraith. There ye lay, wi' yer heid back, and yer mou' open, as +gin you and the deid man had been tryin' whilk wad sleep the soun'est. +But ye hae ta'en to ither studies sin' syne. Ye hae a freah subject--a +bonnie young ane. The Lord hae mercy upo' ye! The goddess o' the +rainbow hersel's gotten a haud o' ye, and ye'll be seein' naething but +rainbows for years to come.--Iris bigs bonnie brigs, but they hae +nowther pier, nor buttress, nor key-stane, nor parapet. And no fit can +gang ower them but her ain, and whan she steps aff, it's upo' men's +herts, and yours can ill bide her fit, licht as it may be." + +"What are ye propheseein' at, Mr Cupples?" said Alec, who did not more +than half understand him. + +"Verra weel. I'm no drunk yet," rejoined Mr Cupples, oracularly. "But +that chield Beauchamp's no rainbow--that lat me tell ye. He'll do you a +mischeef yet, gin ye dinna luik a' the shairper. I ken the breed o' +him. He was luikin' at ye throu the window like a hungry deevil. And +jist min' what ye're aboot wi' the lassie--she's rael bonnie--or ye may +chance to get her into trouble, withoot ony wyte (fault) o' yer ain. +Min' I'm tellin' ye. Gin ye'll tak my advice, ye'll tak a dose o' +mathematics direckly. It's a fine alterative as weel as antidote, +though maybe whusky's.....the verra broo o' the deevil's ain pot," he +concluded, altering his tone entirely, and swallowing the rest of his +glass at a gulp. + +"What do ye want me to do?" asked Alec. + +"To tak tent (care) o' Beauchamp. And meantime to rin doon for yer +Euclid and yer Hutton, and lat's see whaur ye are." + +There was more ground for Mr Cupples's warning than Alec had the +smallest idea of. He had concluded long ago that all possible +relations, even those of enmity--practical enmity at least--were over +between them, and that Mr Beauchamp considered the bejan sufficiently +punished for thrashing him, by being deprived of his condescending +notice for the rest of the ages. But so far was this from being the +true state of the case, that, although Alec never suspected it, +Beauchamp had in fact been dogging and haunting him from the very +commencement of the session, and Mr Cupples had caught him in only one +of many acts of the kind. In the anatomical class, where they continued +to meet, he still attempted to keep up the old look of diadain, as if +the lesson he had received had in no way altered their relative +position. Had Alec known with what difficulty, and under what a load of +galling recollection, he kept it up, he would have been heartily sorry +for him. Beauchamp's whole consciousness was poisoned by the memory of +that day. Incapable of regarding any one except in comparative relation +to himself, the effort of his life had been to maintain that feeling of +superiority with which he started every new acquaintance; for +occasionally a flash of foreign individuality would break through the +husk of satisfaction in which he had inclosed himself, compelling him +to feel that another man might have claims. And hitherto he had been +very successful in patching up and keeping entire his eggshell of +conceit. But that affair with Alec was a very bad business. Had +Beauchamp been a coward, he would have suffered less from it. But he +was no coward, though not quite so courageous as Hector, who yet turned +and fled before Achilles. Without the upholding sense of duty, no man +can be sure of his own behaviour, simply because he cannot be sure of +his own nerves. Duty kept the red-cross knight "forlorne and left to +losse," "haplesse and eke hopelesse," + + "Disarmd, disgraste, and inwardly dismayde, + And eke so faint in every joynt and vayne," + +from turning his back on the giant Orgoglio, and sent him pacing +towards him with feeble steps instead. But although he was not wanting +in mere animal courage, Beauchamp's pride always prevented him from +engaging in any contest in which he was not sure of success, the +thought of failure being to him unendurable. When he found that he had +miscalculated the probabilities, he was instantly dismayed; and the +blow he received on his mouth reminding his vanity of the danger his +handsome face was in, he dropped his arms and declined further contest, +comforting himself with the fancy of postponing his vengeance to a +better opportunity. + +But within an hour he knew that he had lost his chance, as certainly as +he who omits the flood-tide of his fortune. He not only saw that he was +disgraced, but felt in himself that he had been cowardly; and, more +mortifying still, felt that, with respect to the clodhopper, he was +cowardly now. He was afraid of him. Nor could he take refuge in the old +satisfaction of despising him; for that he found no longer possible. He +was on the contrary compelled to despise himself, an experience +altogether new; so that his contempt for Alec changed into a fierce, +slow-burning hate. + +Now hate keeps its object present even more than the opposite passion. +Love makes everything lovely; hate concentrates itself on the one thing +hated. The very sound of Alec's voice became to the ears of Beauchamp +what a filthy potion would have been to his palate. Every line of his +countenance became to his eyes what a disgusting odour would have been +to his nostrils. And yet the fascination of his hate, and his desire of +revenge, kept Beauchamp's ears, eyes, and thoughts hovering about +Forbes. + +No way of gratifying his hatred, however, although he had been brooding +over it all the previous summer, had presented itself till now. Now he +saw the possibility of working a dear revenge. But even now, to work +surely, he must delay long. Still the present consolation was great. + +Nor is it wonderful that his pride should not protect him from the +deeper disgrace of walking in underground ways. For there is nothing in +the worship of self to teach a man to be noble. Honour even will one +day fail him who has learned no higher principle. And although revenge +be "a kind of wild justice," it loses the justice, and retains only the +wildness, when it corrupts into hatred. Every feeling that Beauchamp +had was swallowed up in the gulf eaten away by that worst of all +canker-worms. + +Notwithstanding the humiliation he had experienced, he retained as yet +an unlimited confidence in some gifts which he supposed himself to +possess by nature, and to be capable of using with unequalled art. And +true hate, as well as true love, knows how to wait. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + + +In the course of her study of Milton, Annie had come upon Samson's +lamentation over his blindness; and had found, soon after, the passage +in which Milton, in his own person, bewails the loss of light. The +thought that she would read them to Tibbie Dyster was a natural one. +She borrowed the volumes from Mrs Forbes; and, the next evening, made +her way to Tibbie's cottage, where she was welcomed as usual by her +gruff voice of gratefulness. + +"Ye're a gude bairn to come a' this gait through the snaw to see an +auld blin' body like me. It's dingin' on (snowing or raining)--is na +'t, bairn?" + +"Ay is't. Hoo do ye ken, Tibbie?" + +"I dinna ken hoo I ken. I was na sure. The snaw maks unco little din, +ye see. It comes doon like the speerit himsel' upo' quaiet herts." + +"Did ye ever see, Tibbie?" asked Annie, after a pause. + +"Na; nae that I min' upo'. I was but twa year auld, my mither used to +tell fowk, whan I had the pock, an' it jist closed up my een for +ever--i' this warl, ye ken. I s' see some day as weel's ony o' ye, +lass." + +"Do ye ken what licht is, Tibbie?" said Annie, whom Milton had set +meditating on Tibbie's physical in relation to her mental condition. + +"Ay, weel eneuch," answered Tibbie, with a touch of indignation at the +imputed ignorance. "What for no? What gars ye spier?" + +"Ow! I jist wanted to ken." + +"Hoo could I no ken? Disna the Saviour say: 'I am the licht o' the +warl?'--He that walketh in Him maun ken what licht is, lassie. Syne ye +hae the licht in yersel--in yer ain hert; an' ye maun ken what it is. +Ye canna mistak' it." + +Annie was neither able nor willing to enter into an argument on the +matter, although she was not satisfied. She would rather think than +dispute about it. So she changed the subject in a measure. + +"Did ye ever hear o' John Milton, Tibbie?" she asked. + +"Ow! ay. He was blin' like mysel,' wasna he?" + +"Ay, was he. I hae been readin' a heap o' his poetry." + +"Eh! I wad richt weel like to hear a bittie o' 't." + +"Weel, here's a bit 'at he made as gin Samson was sayin' o' 't, till +himsel' like, efter they had pitten oot's een--the Phillisteens, ye +ken." + +"Ay, I ken weel eneuch. Read it." + +Annie read the well-known passage. Tibbie listened to the end, without +word of remark or question, her face turned towards the reader, and her +sightless balls rolling under their closed lids. When Annie's voice +ceased, she said, after a little reflection: + +"Ay! ay! It's bonnie, an' verra true. And, puir man! it was waur for +him nor for me and Milton; for it was a' his ain wyte; and it was no to +be expecket he cud be sae quaiet as anither. But he had no richt to +queston the ways o' the Maker. But it's bonnie, rael bonnie." + +"Noo, I'll jist read to ye what Milton says aboot his ain blin'ness. +But it's some ill to unnerstan'." + +"Maybe I'll unnerstan' 't better nor you, bairn. Read awa'." + +So admonished, Annie read. Tibbie fidgeted about on her seat. It was +impossible either should understand it. And the proper names were a +great puzzle to them. + +"Tammy Riss!" said Tibbie; "I ken naething aboot _him_." + +"Na, neither do I," said Annie; and beginning the line again, she +blundered over "_blind Maeonides_." + +"Ye're readin' 't wrang, bairn. It sud be '_nae ony days_,' for there's +nae days or nichts either to the blin'. They dinna ken the differ, ye +see." + +"I'm readin' 't as I hae't," answered Annie. "It's a muckle M." + +"I ken naething aboot yer muckle or yer little Ms," retorted Tibbie, +with indignation. "Gin that binna what it means, it's ayont me. Read +awa'. Maybe we'll come to something better." + +"Ay will we?" said Annie, and resumed. + +With the words, "_Thus with the year seasons return_," Tibbie's +attention grew fixed; and when the reader came to the passage, + + "So much the rather thou, Celestial Light, + Shine inward," + +her attention rose into rapture. + +"Ay, ay, lassie! That man kent a' aboot it! He wad never hae speired +gin a blin' crater like me kent what the licht was. He kent what it was +weel. Ay did he!" + +"But, ye see, he was a gey auld man afore he tint his eesicht," Annie +ventured to interpose. + +"Sae muckle the better! He kent baith kinds. And he kent that the sicht +without the een is better nor the sicht o' the een. Fowk nae doobt has +baith; but I think whiles 'at the Lord gies a grainy mair o' the inside +licht to mak' up for the loss o' the ootside; and weel I wat it doesna +want muckle to do that." + +"But ye dinna ken what it is," objected Annie, with unnecessary +persistency in the truth. + +"Do ye tell me that again?" returned Tibbie, harshly. "Ye'll anger me, +bairn. Gin ye kent hoo I lie awauk at nicht, no able to sleep for +thinkin' 'at the day _will_ come whan I'll see--wi' my ain open +een--the verra face o' him that bore oor griefs an' carried oor +sorrows, till I jist lie and greit, for verra wissin', ye wadna say 'at +I dinna ken what the sicht o' a body's een is. Sae nae mair o' that! I +beg o' ye, or I'll jist need to gang to my prayers to haud me ohn been +angry wi' ane o' the Lord's bairns; for that ye _are_, I do believe, +Annie Anderson. Ye canna ken what blin'ness is; but I doobt ye ken what +the licht is, lassie; and, for the lave (rest), jist ye lippen (trust) +to John Milton and me." + +Annie dared not say another word. She sat silent--perhaps rebuked. But +Tibbie resumed: + +"Ye maunna think, hooever, 'cause sic longin' thouchts come ower me, +that I gang aboot the hoose girnin' and compleenin' that I canna open +the door and win oot. Na, na. I could jist despise the licht, whiles, +that ye mak' sic a wark aboot, and sing and shout, as the Psalmist +says; for I'm jist that glaid, that I dinna ken hoo to haud it in. For +the Lord's my frien'. I can jist tell him a' that comes into my puir +blin' heid. Ye see there's ither ways for things to come intil a body's +heid. There's mair doors nor the een. There's back doors, whiles, that +lat ye oot to the bonnie gairden, and that's better nor the road-side. +And the smell o' the braw flooers comes in at the back winnocks, ye +ken.--Whilk o' the bonnie flooers do ye think likest _Him_, Annie +Anderson?" + +"Eh! I dinna ken, Tibbie. I'm thinkin' they maun be a' like him." + +"Ay, ay, nae doobt. But some o' them may be liker him nor ithers." + +"Weel, whilk do _ye_ think likest him, Tibbie?" + +"I think it maun be the minnonette--sae clean and sae fine and sae weel +content." + +"Ay, ye're speiken by the smell, Tibbie. But gin ye saw the rose--" + +"Hoots! I hae seen the rose mony a time. Nae doobt it's bonnier to luik +at--" and here her fingers went moving about as if they were feeling +the full-blown sphere of a rose--"but I think, for my pairt, that the +minnonette's likest Him." + +"May be," was all Annie's reply, and Tibbie went on. + +"There maun be faces liker him nor ithers. Come here, Annie, and lat me +fin (feel) whether ye be like him or no." + +"Hoo can ye ken that?--ye never saw him." + +"Never saw him! I hae seen him ower and ower again. I see him whan I +like. Come here, I say." + +Annie went and knelt down beside her, and the blind woman passed her +questioning fingers in solemn silence over and over the features of the +child. At length, with her hands still resting upon Annie's head, she +uttered her judgment. + +"Ay. Some like him, nae doot. But she'll be a heap liker him whan she +sees him as he is." + +When a Christian proceeds to determine the rightness of his neighbour +by his approximation to his fluctuating ideal, it were well if the +judgment were tempered by such love as guided the hands of blind Tibbie +over the face of Annie in their attempt to discover whether or not she +was like the Christ of her visions. + +"Do ye think _ye_'re like him, Tibbie?" said Annie with a smile, which +Tibbie at once detected in the tone. + +"Hoots, bairn! I had the pock dreidfu', ye ken." + +"Weel, maybe we a' hae had something or ither that hauds us ohn been +sae bonny as we micht hae been. For ae thing, there's the guilt o' +Adam's first sin, ye ken." + +"Verra richt, bairn. Nae doot that's blaudit mony a face--'the want o' +original richteousness, and the corruption o' our whole natur'.' The +wonner is that we're like him at a'. But we maun be like him, for he +was a man born o' a wumman.' Think o' that, lass!" + +At this moment the latch of the door was lifted, and in walked Robert +Bruce. He gave a stare when he saw Annie, for he had thought her out of +the way at Howglen, and said in a tone of asperity, + +"Ye're a' gait at ance, Annie Anderson. A doonricht rintheroot!" + +"Lat the bairn be, Maister Bruce," said Tibbie. "She's doin' the Lord's +will, whether ye may think it or no. She's visitin' them 'at's i' the +prison-hoose o' the dark. She's ministerin' to them 'at hae mony +preeviledges nae doot, but hae room for mair." + +"I'm no saying naething," said Bruce. + +"Ye are sayin'. Ye're offendin' ane o' his little anes. Tak ye tent o' +the millstane." + +"Hoot toot! Tibbie. I was only wissin 'at she wad keep a sma' part o' +her ministrations for her ain hame and her ain fowk 'at has the +ministerin' to her. There's the mistress and me jist mairtyrs to that +chop! And there's the bit infant in want o' some _ministration_ noo and +than, gin that be what ye ca' 't." + +A grim compression of the mouth was all Tibbie's reply. She did not +choose to tell Robert Bruce that although she was blind--and probably +_because_ she was blind--she heard rather more gossip than anybody else +in Glamerton, and that consequently his appeal to her sympathy had no +effect upon her. Finding she made no other answer, Bruce turned to +Annie. + +"Noo, Annie," said he, "ye're nae wantit here ony langer. I hae a word +or twa to say to Tibbie. Gang hame and learn yer lessons for the morn." + +"It's Setterday nicht," answered Annie. + +"But ye hae yer lessons to learn for the Mononday." + +"Ow ay! But I hae a buik or twa to tak' hame to Mistress Forbes. And I +daursay I'll bide, and come to the kirk wi' her i' the mornin'." + +Now, although all that Bruce wanted was to get rid of her, he went on +to oppose her; for common-minded people always feel that they give the +enemy an advantage if they show themselves content. + +"It's no safe to rin aboot i' the mirk (dark). It's dingin' on forbye. +Ye'll be a' wat, and maybe fa' into the dam. Ye couldna see yer han' +afore yer face--ance oot o' the toon." + +"I ken the road to Mistress Forbes's as weel's the road up your +garret-stairs, Mr Bruce." + +"Ow nae doobt!" he answered, with a sneering acerbity peculiar to him, +in which his voice seemed sharpened and concentrated to a point by the +contraction of his lips. "And there's tykes aboot," he added, +remembering Annie's fear of dogs. + +But by this time Annie, gentle as she was, had got a little angry. + +"The Lord'll tak care o' me frae the dark and the tykes, and the lave +o' ye, Mr Bruce," she said. + +And bidding Tibbie good-night, she took up her books, and departed, to +wade through the dark and the snow, trembling lest some unseen _tyke_ +should lay hold of her as she went. + +As soon as she was gone, Bruce proceeded to make himself agreeable to +Tibbie by retailing all the bits of gossip he could think of. While +thus engaged, he kept peering earnestly about the room from door to +chimney, turning his head on every side, and surveying as he turned it. +Even Tibbie perceived, from the changes in the sound of his voice, that +he was thus occupied. + +"Sae your auld landlord's deid, Tibbie!" he said at last. + +"Ay, honest man! He had aye a kin' word for a poor body." + +"Ay, ay, nae doobt. But what wad ye say gin I tell't ye that I had +boucht the bit hoosie, and was yer new landlord, Tibbie?" + +"I wad say that the door-sill wants men'in', to haud the snaw oot; an' +the bit hoosie's sair in want o' new thack. The verra cupples'll be +rottit awa' or lang." + +"Weel that's verra rizzonable, nae doobt, gin a' be as ye say." + +"Be as I say, Robert Bruce?" + +"Ay, ay; ye see ye're nae a'thegither like ither fowk. I dinna mean ony +offence, ye ken, Tibbie; but ye haena the sicht o' yer een." + +"Maybe I haena the feelin' o' my auld banes, aither, Maister Bruce! +Maybe I'm ower blin' to hae the rheumatize; or to smell the auld weet +thack whan there's been a scatterin' o' snaw or a drappy o' rain o' the +riggin'!" + +"I didna want to anger ye, Tibbie. A' that ye say deserves attention. +It would be a shame to lat an auld body like you--" + +"No that auld, Maister Bruce, gin ye kent the trowth!" + +"Weel, ye're no ower young to need to be ta'en guid care o'--are ye, +Tibbie?" + +Tibbie grunted. + +"Weel, to come to the pint. There's nae doobt the hoose wants a hantle +o' doctorin'." + +"'Deed does't," interposed Tibbie. "It'll want a new door. For forbye +'at the door's maist as wide as twa ordinar doors, it was ance in twa +halves like a chop-door. And they're ill jined thegither, and the win' +comes throu like a knife, and maist cuts a body in twa. Ye see the bit +hoosie was ance the dyer's dryin' hoose, afore he gaed further doon the +watter." + +"Nae doobt ye're richt, Tibbie. But seein' that I maun lay oot sae +muckle, I'll be compelled to pit anither thrippence on to the rent." + +"Ither thrippence, Robert Bruce! That's three thrippences i' the ook in +place o' twa. That's an unco rise! Ye canna mean what ye say! It's a' +that I'm able to do to pay my saxpence. An auld blin' body like me +disna fa' in wi' saxpences whan she gangs luikin aboot wi' her lang +fingers for a pirn or a prin that she's looten fa'." + +"But ye do a heap o' spinnin', Tibbie, wi' thae lang fingers. There's +naebody in Glamerton spins like ye." + +"Maybe ay and maybe no. It's no muckle that that comes till. I wadna +spin sae weel gin it warna that the Almichty pat some sicht into the +pints o' my fingers, 'cause there was nane left i' my een. An' gin ye +mak ither thrippence a week oot o' that, ye'll be turnin' the wather +that He sent to ca my mill into your dam; an' I doot it'll play ill +water wi' your wheels." + +"Hoot, hoot! Tibbie, woman! It gangs sair against me to appear to be +hard-hertit." + +"I hae nae doobt. Ye dinna want to _appear_ sae. But do ye ken that I +mak sae little by the spinnin' ye mak sae muckle o', that the kirk +alloos me a shillin' i' the week to mak up wi'? And gin it warna for +kin' frien's, it's ill livin' I wad hae in dour weather like this. +Dinna ye imaigine, Mr Bruce, that I hae a pose o' my ain. I hae +naething ava, excep' sevenpence in a stockin'-fit. And it wad hae to +come aff o' my tay or something ither 'at I wad ill miss." + +"Weel, that may be a' verra true," rejoined Bruce; "but a body maun hae +their ain for a' that. Wadna the kirk gie ye the ither thrippence?" + +"Do ye think I wad tak frae the kirk to pit into your till?" + +"Weel, say saivenpence, than, and we'll be quits." + +"I tell ye what, Robert Bruce: raither nor pay ye one bawbee more nor +the saxpence, I'll turn oot i' the snaw, and lat the Lord luik efter +me." + +Robert Bruce went away, and did not purchase the cottage, which was in +the market at a low price, He had intended Tibbie to believe, as she +did, that he had already bought it; and if she had agreed to pay even +the sevenpence, he would have gone from her to secure it. + +On her way to Howglen, Annie pondered on the delight of Tibbie--Tibbie +Dyster who had never seen the "human face divine"--when she should see +the face of Jesus Christ, most likely the first face she would see. +Then she turned to what Tibbie had said about knowing light from +knowing the Saviour. There must be some connection between what Tibbie +said and what Thomas had said about the face of God. There was a text +that said "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." So she was +sure that the light that was in a Christian, whatever it meant, must +come from the face of God. And so what Thomas said and what Tibbie said +might be only different ways of saying the same thing. + +Thus she was in a measure saved from the perplexity which comes of any +_one_ definition of the holy secret, compelling a man to walk in a way +between walls, instead of in a path across open fields. + +There was no day yet in which Annie did not think of her old champion +with the same feeling of devotion which his championship had first +aroused, although all her necessities, hopes, and fears were now beyond +any assistance he could render. She was far on in a new path: he was +loitering behind, out of hearing, He would not have dared to call her +solicitude nonsense; but he would have set down all such matters as +belonging to women, rather than youths beginning the world. The lessons +of Thomas Crann were not despised, for he never thought about them. He +began to look down upon all his past, and, in it, upon his old +companions. Since knowing Kate, who had more delicate habits and ways +than he had ever seen, he had begun to refine his own modes concerning +outside things; and in his anxiety to be like her, while he became more +polished, he became less genial and wide-hearted. + +But none of his old friends forgot him. I believe not a day passed in +which Thomas did not pray for him in secret, naming him by his name, +and lingering over it mournfully--"Alexander Forbes--the young man that +I thocht wad hae been pluckit frae the burnin' afore noo. But thy +time's the best, O Lord. It's a' thy wark; an' there's no good thing in +us. And thou canst turn the hert o' man as the rivers o' water. And +maybe thou hast gi'en him grace to repent already, though I ken +naething aboot it." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLV. + + +This had been a sore winter for Thomas, and he had had plenty of +leisure for prayer. For, having gone up on a scaffold one day to see +that the wall he was building was properly protected from the rain, he +slipped his foot on a wet pole, and fell to the ground, whence, being a +heavy man, he was lifted terribly shaken, besides having one of his +legs broken. Not a moan escaped him--a murmur was out of the question. +They carried him home, and the surgeon did his best for him. Nor, +although few people liked him much, was he left unvisited in his +sickness. The members of his own religious community recognized their +obligation to minister to him; and they would have done more, had they +guessed how poor he was. Nobody knew how much he gave away in other +directions; but they judged of his means by the amount he was in the +habit of putting into the plate at the chapel-door every Sunday. There +was never much of the silvery shine to be seen in the heap of copper, +but one of the gleaming sixpences was almost sure to have dropped from +the hand of Thomas Crann. Not that this generosity sprung altogether +from disinterested motives; for the fact was, that he had a morbid fear +of avarice; a fear I believe not altogether groundless; for he was +independent in his feelings almost to fierceness--certainly to +ungraciousness; and this strengthened a natural tendency to saving and +hoarding. The consciousness of this tendency drove him to the other +extreme. Jean, having overheard him once cry out in an agony, "Lord, +hae mercy upo' me, and deliver me frae this love o' money, which is the +root of all evil," watched him in the lobby of the chapel the next +Sunday--"and as sure's deith," said Jean--an expression which it was +weel for her that Thomas did not hear--"he pat a siller shillin' into +the plate that day, mornin' _an'_ nicht." + +"Tak' care hoo ye affront him, whan ye tak' it," said Andrew Constable +to his wife, who was setting out to carry him some dish of her own +cooking--for Andrew's wife belonged to the missionars--"for weel ye ken +Thamas likes to be unner obligation to nane but the Lord himsel'." + +"Lea' ye that to me, Anerew, my man. You 'at's rouch men disna ken hoo +to do a thing o' that sort. I s' manage Thamas weel eneuch. I ken the +nater o' him." + +And sure enough he ate it up at once, that she might take the dish back +with her. + +Annie went every day to ask after him, and every day had a kind +reception from Jean, who bore her no grudge for the ignominious +treatment of Thomas on that evening memorable to Annie. At length, one +day, after many weeks, Jean asked her if she would not like to see him. + +"Ay wad I; richt weel," answered she. + +Jean led her at once into Thomas's room, where he lay in a bed in the +wall. He held out his hand. Annie could hardly be said to take it, but +she put hers into it, saying timidly, + +"Is yer leg verra sair, Thamas?" + +"Ow na, dawtie; nae noo. The Lord's been verra mercifu'--jist like +himsel'." It was ill to bide for a while whan I cudna sleep. But I jist +sleep noo like ane o' the beloved." + +"I was richt sorry for ye, Thamas." + +"Ay, Ye've a kin' hert, lassie. And I canna help thinkin'--they may say +what they like--but I canna help thinkin' that the Lord was sorry for +me himsel'. It cam' into my heid as I lay here ae nicht, an' cudna +sleep a wink, and cudna rist, and yet daurna muv for my broken hough. +And as sune's that cam' into my heid I was sae upliftit, 'at I forgot +a' aboot my leg, and begud, or ever I kent, to sing the hunner and +saivent psalm. And syne whan the pain cam' back wi' a terrible stoon, I +jist amaist leuch; an I thoucht that gin he wad brack me a' to bits, I +wad never cry _haud_, nor turn my finger to gar him stent. Noo, ye're +ane o' the Lord's bairns--" + +"Eh! I dinna ken," cried Annie, half-terrified at such an assurance +from Thomas, and the responsibility devolved on her thereby, and yet +delighted beyond expression. + +"Ay are ye," continued Thomas confidently; "and I want to ken what ye +think aboot it. Do ye think it was a wrang thocht to come into my +heid?" + +"Hoo could that be, Thomas, whan it set ye a singin'--and sic a +psalm--'O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness?'" + +"The Lord be praised ance mair!" exclaimed Thomas. "'Oot o' the mooth +o' babes and sucklin's!'--no that ye're jist that, Annie, but ye're no +muckle mair. Sit ye doon aside me, and rax ower to the Bible, and jist +read that hunner and saivent psalm. Eh, lassie! but the Lord is guid. +Oh! that men wad praise him! An' to care for the praises o' sic worms +as me! What richt hae I to praise him?" + +"Ye hae the best richt, Thomas, for hasna he been good to ye?["] + +"Ye're richt, lassie, ye're richt. It's wonnerfu' the common sense o' +bairns. Gin ye wad jist lat the Lord instruck them! I doobt we mak ower +little o' them. Nae doobt they're born in sin, and brocht farth in +iniquity; but gin they repent ear', they win far aheid o' the auld +fowk." + +Thomas's sufferings had made him more gentle--and more sure of Annie's +election. He was one on whom affliction was not thrown away.--Annie saw +him often after this, and he never let her go without reading a chapter +to him, his remarks upon which were always of some use to her, +notwithstanding the limited capacity and formal shape of the doctrinal +moulds in which they were cast; for wherever there is genuine religious +feeling and _experience_, it will now and then crack the prisoning +pitcher, and let some brilliant ray of the indwelling glory out, to +discomfit the beleaguering hosts of troublous thoughts. + +Although the framework of Thomas was roughly hewn, he had always been +subject to such fluctuations of feeling as are more commonly found +amongst religious women. Sometimes, notwithstanding the visions of the +face of God "vouchsafed to him from the mercy-seat," as he would say, +he would fall into fits of doubting whether he was indeed one of the +elect; for how then could he be so hard-hearted, and so barren of good +thoughts and feelings as he found himself? At such times he was subject +to an irritation of temper, alternately the cause and effect of his +misery, upon which, with all his efforts, he was only capable yet of +putting a very partial check. Woe to the person who should then dare to +interrupt his devotions! If Jean, who had no foresight or anticipation +of consequences, should, urged by some supposed necessity of the case, +call to him through the door bolted against Time and its concerns, the +saint who had been kneeling before God in utter abasement, +self-contempt, and wretchedness, would suddenly wrench it open, a +wrathful, indignant man, boiling brimful of angry words and unkind +objurgations, through all which would be manifest, notwithstanding, a +certain unhappy restraint. Having driven the enemy away in confusion, +he would bolt his door again, and return to his prayers in two-fold +misery, conscious of guilt increased by unrighteous anger, and so of +yet another wall of separation raised between him and his God. + +Now this weakness all but disappeared during the worst of his illness, +to return for a season with increased force when his recovery had +advanced so far as to admit of his getting out of bed. Children are +almost always cross when recovering from an illness, however patient +they may have been during its severest moments; and the phenomenon is +not by any means confined to children. + +A deacon of the church, a worthy little weaver, had been +half-officially appointed to visit Thomas, and find out, which was not +an easy task, if he was in want of anything. When he arrived, Jean was +out. He lifted the latch, entered, and tapped gently at Thomas's +door--too gently, for he received no answer. With hasty yet hesitating +imprudence, he opened the door and peeped in. Thomas was upon his knees +by the fire-side, with his plaid over his head. Startled by the +weaver's entrance, he raised his head, and his rugged leonine face, red +with wrath, glared out of the thicket of his plaid upon the intruder. +He did not rise, for that would have been a task requiring time and +caution. But he cried aloud in a hoarse voice, with his two hands +leaning on the chair, like the paws of some fierce rampant animal: + +"Jeames, ye're takin' the pairt o' Sawton upo' ye, drivin' a man frae +his prayers!" + +"Hoot, Thamas! I beg yer pardon," answered the weaver, rather flurried; +"I thoucht ye micht hae been asleep." + +"Ye had no business to think for yersel' in sic a maitter. What do ye +want?" + +"I jist cam' to see whether _ye_ war in want o' onything, Thamas." + +"I'm in want o' naething. Gude nicht to ye." + +"But, railly, Thamas," expostulated the weaver, emboldened by his own +kindness--"ye'll excuse me, but ye hae nae business to gang doon on yer +knees wi' yer leg in sic a weyk condeetion." + +"I winna excuse ye, Jeames. What ken ye aboot my leg? And what's the +use o' knees, but to gang doon upo'? Gang hame, and gang doon upo' yer +ain, Jeames; and dinna disturb ither fowk that ken what theirs was made +for." + +Thus admonished, the weaver dared not linger. As he turned to shut the +door, he wished the mason good night, but received no answer. Thomas +had sunk forward upon the chair, and had already drawn his plaid over +his head. + +But the secret place of the Most High will not be entered after this +fashion; and Thomas felt that he was shut out. It is not by driving +away our brother that we can be alone with God. Thomas's plaid could +not isolate him with his Maker, for communion with God is never +isolation. In such a mood, the chamber with the shut door shuts out God +too, and one is left alone with himself, which is the outer darkness. +The love of the brethren opens the door into God's chamber, which is +within ours. So Thomas--who was far enough from hating his brother, who +would have struggled to his feet and limped to do him a service, though +he would not have held out his hand to receive one, for he was only +good, not gracious--Thomas, I say, felt worse than ever, and more as if +God had forgotten him, than he had felt for many a day. He knelt still +and sighed sore. + +At length another knock came, which although very gentle, he heard and +knew well enough. + +"Who's there?" he asked, notwithstanding, with a fresh access of +indignant feeling. + +"Annie Anderson," was the answer through the door, in a tone which at +once soothed the ruffled waters of Thomas's spirit. + +"Come in," he said. + +She entered, quiet as a ghost. + +"Come awa', Annie. I'm glaid to see ye. Jist come and kneel doon aside +me, and we'll pray thegither, for I'm sair troubled wi' an ill-temper." + +Without a word of reply, Annie kneeled by the side of his chair. Thomas +drew the plaid over her head, took her hand, which was swallowed up in +his, and after a solemn pause, spoke thus: + +"O Lord, wha dwellest in the licht inaccessible, whom mortal eye hath +not seen nor can see, but who dwellest with him that is humble and +contrite of heart, and liftest the licht o' thy coontenance upo' them +that seek it, O Lord,"--here the solemnity of the appeal gave way +before the out-bursting agony of Thomas's heart--"O Lord, dinna lat's +cry in vain, this thy lammie, and me, thine auld sinner, but, for the +sake o' him wha did no sin, forgive my sins and my vile temper, and +help me to love my neighbour as mysel'. Lat Christ dwell in me and syne +I shall be meek and lowly of heart like him. Put thy speerit in me, and +syne I shall do richt--no frae mysel', for I hae no good thing in me, +but frae thy speerit that dwelleth in us." + +After this prayer, Thomas felt refreshed and hopeful. With slow labour +he rose from his knees at last, and sinking into his chair, drew Annie +towards him, and kissed her. Then he said, + +"Will ye gang a bit eeran' for me, Annie?" + +"That I will, Thomas. I wad rin mysel' aff o' my legs for ye." + +"Na, na. I dinna want sae muckle rinnin' the nicht. But I wad be sair +obleeged to ye gin ye wad jist rin doon to Jeames Johnstone, the +weyver, and tell him, wi' my coampliments, ye ken, that I'm verra sorry +I spak' till him as I did the nicht; and I wad tak it richt kin' o' him +gin he wad come and tak a cup o' tay wi' me the morn's nicht, and we +cud hae a crack thegither, and syne we cud hae worship thegither. And +tell him he maunna think nae mair o' the way I spak' till him, for I +was troubled i' my min', and I'm an ill-nater'd man." + +"I'll tell him a' that ye say," answered Annie, "as weel's I can min' +'t; and I s' warran' I s' no forget muckle o' 't. Wad ye like me to +come back the nicht and tell ye what he says?" + +"Na, na, lassie. It'll be nearhan' time for ye to gang to yer bed. And +it's a cauld nicht. I ken that by my leg. And ye see Jeames Johnstone's +no an ill-nater'd man like me. He's a douce man, and he's sure to be +weel-pleased and come till's tay. Na, na; ye needna come back. Guid +nicht to ye, my dawtie. The Lord bless ye for comin' to pray wi' an +ill-nater'd man." + +Annie sped upon her mission of love through the murky streets and lanes +of Glamerton, as certainly a divine messenger as any seraph crossing +the blue empyrean upon level wing. And if any one should take exception +to this, on the ground that she sought her own service and neglected +home duties, I would, although my object has not been to set her forth +as an exemplar, take the opportunity of asking whether to sleep in a +certain house and be at liberty to take one's meals there, be +sufficient to make it home, and the source of home-obligations--to +indicate the will of God as to _the_ region of one's labour, other +regions lying open at the same time. Ought Annie to have given her aid +as a child where there was no parental recognition of the +relationship--an aid whose value in the eyes of the Bruces would have +consisted in the leisure it gave to Mrs Bruce for ministering more +devotedly in the temple of Mammon? I put the question, not quite sure +what the answer ought to be. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI. + + +Now that Kate had got a companion, Alec never saw her alone. But he had +so much the better opportunity of knowing her. Miss Warner was a nice, +open-eyed, fair-faced English girl, with pleasant manners, and plenty +of speech; and although more shy than Kate--English girls being +generally more shy than Scotch girls--was yet ready enough to take her +share in conversation. Between the two, Alec soon learned how ignorant +he was in the things that most interest girls. Classics and mathematics +were not _very_ interesting to himself, and anatomy was not available. +He soon perceived that they were both fond of poetry; but if it was not +the best poetry, he was incapable of telling them so, although the few +lessons he had had were from a better mistress than either of them, and +with some better examples than they had learned to rejoice in. + +The two girls had got hold of some volumes of Byron, and had read them +together at school, chiefly after retiring to the chamber they shared +together. The consequences were an unbounded admiration and a facility +of reference, with the use of emotional adjectives. Alec did not know a +single poem of that writer, except the one about the Assyrian coming +down like a wolf on the fold. + +Determined, however, not to remain incapable of sympathizing with them, +he got copies of the various poems from the library of the college, and +for days studied Byron and anatomy--nothing else. Like all other young +men, he was absorbed, entranced, with the poems. Childe Harold he could +not read, but the tales were one fairy region after another. Their +power over young people is remarkable, but not more remarkable than the +fact that they almost invariably lose this power over the individual, +while they have as yet retained it over the race; for of all the +multitude which does homage at the shrine of the poet few linger long, +and fewer still, after the turmoil of life has yielded room for +thought, renew their homage. Most of those who make the attempt are +surprised--some of them troubled--at the discovery that the shrine can +work miracles no more. The Byron-fever is in fact a disease belonging +to youth, as the hooping-cough to childhood,--working some occult good +no doubt in the end. It has its origin, perhaps, in the fact that the +poet makes no demand either on the intellect or the conscience, but +confines himself to friendly intercourse with those passions whose +birth long precedes that of choice in their objects--whence a wealth of +emotion is squandered. It is long before we discover that far richer +feeling is the result of a regard bent on the profound and the pure. + +Hence the chief harm the poems did Alec, consisted in the rousing of +his strongest feelings towards imaginary objects of inferior +excellence, with the necessary result of a tendency to measure the +worth of the passions themselves by their strength alone, and not by +their character--by their degree, and not by their kind. That they were +the forge-bellows, supplying the blast of the imagination to the fire +of love in which his life had begun to be remodelled, is not to be +counted among their injurious influences. + +He had never hitherto meddled with his own thoughts or feelings--had +lived an external life to the most of his ability. Now, through falling +in love, and reading Byron, he began to know the existence of a world +of feeling, if not of thought; while his attempts at conversation with +the girls had a condensing if not crystallizing influence upon the +merely vaporous sensations which the poetry produced. All that was +wanted to give full force to the other influences in adding its own, +was the presence of the sultry evenings of summer, with the thunder +gathering in the dusky air. The cold days and nights of winter were now +swathing that brain, through whose aerial regions the clouds of +passion, driven on many shifting and opposing winds, were hurrying +along to meet in human thunder and human rain. + +I will not weary my readers with the talk of three young people +enamoured of Byron. Of course the feelings the girls had about him +differed materially from those of Alec; so that a great many of the +replies and utterances met like unskilful tilters, whose staves passed +wide. In neither was the admiration much more than an uneasy delight in +the vivid though indistinct images of pleasure raised by the magic of +that "physical force of words" in which Byron excels all other English +poets, and in virtue of which, I presume, the French persist in +regarding Byron as our greatest poet, and in supposing that we agree +with them. + +Alec gained considerably with Kate from becoming able to talk about her +favourite author, while she appeared to him more beautiful than +ever--the changes in the conversation constantly bringing out new +phases on her changeful countenance. He began to discover now what I +have already ventured to call the _fluidity_ of her expression; for he +was almost startled every time he saw her, by finding her different +from what he had expected to find her. Jean Paul somewhere makes a +lamentation over the fact that girls will never meet you in the morning +with the same friendliness with which they parted from you the night +before. But this was not the kind of change Alec found. She behaved +with perfect evenness to him, but always _looked_ different, so that he +felt as if he could never know her quite--which was a just conclusion, +and might have been arrived at upon less remarkable though more +important grounds. Occasionally he would read something of Byron's; and +it was a delight to him such as he had never known before, to see +Kate's strangely beautiful eyes flash with actual visible fire as he +read, or cloud over with mist and fill slowly with the dew of feeling. +No doubt he took more of the credit than belonged to him--which was +greedy, seeing poor Byron had none of the pleasure. + +Had it not been for the help Mr Cupples gave him towards the end of the +session, he would have made a poor figure both in Greek and +mathematics. But he was so filled with the phantasm of Kate Fraser, +that, although not insensible of his obligation to Mr Cupples, he +regarded it lightly; and, ready to give his life for a smile from Kate, +took all his kindness, along with his drunken wisdom, as a matter of +course. + +And when he next saw Annie and Curly, he did not speak to them quite so +heartily as on his former return. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII. + + +In one or two of his letters, which were never very long, Alec had just +mentioned Kate; and now Mrs Forbes had many inquiries to make about +her. Old feelings and thoughts awoke in her mind, and made her wish to +see the daughter of her old companion. The absence of Annie, banished +once more at the suggestion of worldly prudence, but for whose quiet +lunar smile not even Alec's sunny presence could quite make up, +contributed no doubt to this longing after the new maiden. She wrote to +Mr Fraser, asking him to allow his niece to pay her a visit of a few +weeks; but she said nothing about it to Alec. The arrangement happened +to be convenient to Mr Fraser, who wished to accept an invitation +himself. It was now the end of April; and he proposed that the time +should be fixed for the beginning of June. + +When this favourable response arrived, Mrs Forbes gave Alec the letter +to read, and saw the flush of delight that rose to his face as he +gathered the welcome news. Nor was this observation unpleasant to her; +for that Alec should at length marry one of her own people was a +grateful idea. + +Alec sped away into the fields. To think that all these old familiar +places would one day be glorified by her presence! that the daisies +would bend beneath the foot of the goddess! and the everlasting hills +put on a veil of tenderness from the reflex radiance of her regard! A +flush of summer mantled over the face of nature, the flush of a deeper +summer than that of the year--of the joy that lies at the heart of all +summers. For a whole week of hail, sleet, and "watery sunbeams" +followed, and yet in the eyes of Alec the face of nature still glowed. + +When, after long expectation, the day arrived, Alec could not rest. He +wandered about all day, haunting his mother as she prepared his room +for Kate, hurrying away with a sudden sense of the propriety of +indifference, and hurrying back on some cunning pretext, while his +mother smiled to herself at his eagerness and the transparency of his +artifice. At length, as the hour drew near, he could restrain himself +no longer. He rushed to the stable, saddled his pony, which was in +nearly as high spirits as himself, and galloped off to meet the mail. +The sun was nearing the west; a slight shower had just fallen; the +thanks of the thirsty earth were ascending in odour; and the wind was +too gentle to shake the drops from the leaves. To Alec, the wind of his +own speed was the river that bore her towards him; the odours were +wafted from her approach; and the sunset sleepiness around was the +exhaustion of the region that longed for her Cytheraean presence. + +At last, as he turned a corner of the road, there was the coach; and he +had just time to wheel his pony about before it was up with him. A +little gloved hand greeted him; the window was let down; and the face +he had been longing for shone out lovelier than ever. There was no +inside passenger but herself; and, leaning with one hand on the +coach-door, he rode alongside till they drew near the place where the +gig was waiting for them, when he dashed on, gave his pony to the man, +was ready to help her as soon as the coach stopped, and so drove her +home in triumph to his mother. + +Where the coach stopped, on the opposite side of the way, a grassy +field, which fell like a mantle from the shoulders of a hill crowned +with firs, sloped down to the edge of the road. From the coach, the sun +was hidden behind a thick clump of trees, but his rays, now red with +rich age, flowed in a wide stream over the grass, and shone on an old +Scotch fir which stood a yard or two from the highway, making its red +bark glow like the pools which the prophet saw in the desert. At the +foot of this tree sat Tibbie Dyster; and from her red cloak the level +sun-tide was thrown back in gorgeous glory; so that the eyeless woman, +who only felt the warmth of the great orb, seemed, in her effulgence of +luminous red, to be the light-fountain whence that torrent of +rubescence burst. From her it streamed up to the stem and along the +branches of the glowing fir; from her it streamed over the radiant +grass of the up-sloping field away towards the western sun. But the +only one who saw the splendour was a shoemaker, who rubbed his rosiny +hands together, and felt happy without knowing why. + +Alec would have found it difficult to say whether or not he had seen +the red cloak. But from the shadowy side of it there were eyes shining +upon him, with a deeper and truer, if with a calmer, or, say, colder +devotion, than that with which he regarded Kate. The most powerful rays +that fall from the sun are neither those of colour nor those of +heat.--Annie sat by Tibbie's side--the side away from the sun. If the +East and the West might take human shape--come forth in their Oreads +from their hill-tops, and meet half-way between--there they were seated +side by side: Tibbie, old, scarred, blind Tibbie, was of the west and +the sunset, the centre of a blood-red splendour; cold, gentle Annie, +with her dark hair, blue eyes, and the sad wisdom of her pale face, was +of the sun-deserted east, between whose gray clouds, faintly smiling +back the rosiness of the sun's triumphal death, two or three cold stars +were waiting to glimmer. + +Tibbie had come out to bask a little, and, in the dark warmth of the +material sun, to worship that Sun whose light she saw in the hidden +world of her heart, and who is the Sun of all the worlds; to breathe +the air, which, through her prison-bars, spoke of freedom; to give +herself room to long for the hour when the loving Father would take her +out of the husk which infolded her, and say to her: "_See, my child_." +With the rest of the travailing creation, she was groaning in hopeful +pain--not in the pain of the mother, but in the pain of the child, soon +to be forgotten in the following rest. + +If my younger readers want to follow Kate and Alec home, they will take +it for a symptom of the chill approach of "unlovely age," that I say to +them: 'We will go home with Tibbie and Annie, and hear what they say. I +like better to tell you about ugly blind old Tibbie than about +beautiful young Kate.--But you shall have your turn. Do not think that +we old people do not care for what you care for. We want more than you +want--a something without which what you like best cannot last.' + +"What did the coch stop for, Annie, lass?" asked Tibbie, as soon as the +mail had driven on. + +"It's a lady gaein to Mistress Forbes's at Howglen." + +"Hoo ken ye that?" + +"'Cause Alec Forbes rade oot to meet her, and syne took her hame i' the +gig." + +"Ay! ay! I thought I heard mair nor the ordinar nummer o' horse-feet as +the coch cam' up. He's a braw lad, that Alec Forbes-isna he?" + +"Ay is he," answered Annie, sadly; not from jealousy, for her +admiration of Alec was from afar; but as looking up from purgatorial +exclusion to the paradise of Howglen, where the beautiful lady would +have all Mrs Forbes, and Alec too, to herself. + +The old woman caught the tone, but misinterpreted it. + +"I doobt," she said, "he winna get ony guid at that college." + +"What for no?" returned Annie. "I was at the school wi' him, and never +saw onything to fin' fau't wi'." + +"Ow na, lassie. Ye had naething to do fin'in' fau't wi' him. His father +was a douce man, an' maybe a God-fearin' man, though he made but sma' +profession. I think we're whiles ower sair upo' some o' them that +promises little, and maybe does the mair. Ye min' what ye read to me +afore we cam' oot thegither, aboot the lad that said till's father, +_I go not_; but afterwards he repented and gaed?" + +"Ay." + +"Weel, I think we'll gang hame noo." + +They rose, and went, hand in hand, over the bridge, and round the end +of its parapet, and down the steep descent to the cottage at its foot, +Tibbie's cloak shining all the way, but, now that the sun was down, +with a chastened radiance. When she had laid it aside, and was seated +on her low wooden chair within reach of her spinning-wheel, + +"Noo," said Tibbie, "ye'll jist read a chapter till me, lassie, afore +ye gang hame, and syne I s' gang to my bed. Blin'ness is a sair savin' +o' can'les." + +She forgot that it was summer, when, in those northern regions, the +night has no time to gather before the sun is flashing again in the +east. + +The chapter Annie chose was the ninth of St John's Gospel, about Jesus +curing the man blind from his birth. When she had finished, Annie said, + +"Michtna he cure you, Tibbie, gin ye spiered at him?" + +"Ay micht he, and ay will he," answered Tibbie. "I'm only jist bidin' +his time. But I'm thinkin' he'll cure me better yet nor he cured that +blin' man. He'll jist tak' the body aff o' me a'thegither, and syne +I'll see, no wi' een like yours, but wi' my haill speeritual body. Ye +min' that verse i' the prophecees o' Ezakiel: I ken't weel by hert. It +says: 'And their whole boady, and their backs, and their han's, and +their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes roon aboot, even the +wheels that they four had.' Isna that a gran' text? I wiss Mr Turnbull +wad tak' it into his heid to preach frae that text sometime afore it +comes, which winna be that lang, I'm thinkin'. The wheels'll be +stoppin' at my door or lang." + +"What gars ye think that, Tibbie? There's no sign o' deith aboot you, +I'm sure," said Annie. + +"Weel, ye see, I canna weel say. Blin' fowk somehoo kens mair nor ither +fowk aboot things that the sicht o' the een has unco little to do wi'. +But never min'. I'm willin' to bide i' the dark as lang as He likes. +It's eneuch for ony bairn to ken that its father's stan'in' i' the +licht, and seein' a' aboot him, and sae weel able to guide hit, though +it kensna whaur to set doon its fit neist. And I wat He's i' the licht. +Ye min' that bit aboot the Lord pittin' Moses intil a clift o' the +rock, and syne coverin' him wi' his han' till he was by him?" + +"Ay, fine that," answered Annie. + +"Weel, I canna help thinkin' whiles, that the dark aboot me's jist the +how o' the Lord's han'; and I'm like Moses, only wi' this differ, that +whan the Lord tak's his han' aff o' me, it'll be to lat me luik i' the +face o' him, and no to lat me see only his back pairts, which was a' +that he had the sicht o'; for ye see Moses was i' the body, and cudna +bide the sicht o' the face o' God. I daursay it wad hae blin' 't him. I +hae heard that ower muckle licht'll ca fowk blin' whiles. What think +ye, lassie?" + +"Ay; the lichtnin' blin's fowk whiles. And gin I luik straucht at the +sun, I can see nothing efter't for a whilie." + +"I tell ye sae!" exclaimed Tibbie triumphantly. "And do ye min' the +veesion that the apostle John saw in Pawtmos? I reckon he micht hae +thocht lang there, a' him lane, gin it hadna been for the bonnie +things, and the gran' things, and the terrible things 'at the Lord loot +him see. They _war_ gran' sichts! It was the veesion o' the Saviour +himsel'--Christ himsel'; and he says that his coontenance was as the +sun shineth in his strength. What think ye o' that, lass!" + +This was not a question, but an exulting exclamation. The vision in +Patmos proved that although Moses must not see the face of God because +of its brightness, a more favoured prophet might have the vision. And +Tibbie, who had a share in the privileges of the new covenant, who was +not under the law like Moses, but under grace like John, would one day +see the veil of her blindness shrivel away from before her deeper eyes, +burnt up by the glory of that face of God, which is a consuming +fire.--I suppose that Tibbie was right in the main. But was it not +another kind of brightness, a brightness without effulgence, a +brightness grander and more glorious, shining in love and patience, and +tenderness and forgiveness and excuse, that Moses was unfit to see, +because he was not well able to understand it, until, ages after, he +descended from heaven upon the Mount of Transfiguration, and the humble +son of God went up from the lower earth to meet him there, and talk +with him face to face as a man with his friend? + +Annie went home to her garret. It was a singular experience the child +had in the changes that came to her with the seasons. The winter with +its frost and bitter winds brought her a home at Howglen; the summer, +whose airs were molten kisses, took it away, and gave her the face of +nature instead of the face of a human mother. For the snug little +chamber in which she heard with a quiet exultation the fierce rush of +the hail-scattering tempest against the window, or the fluffy fall of +the snow-flakes, like hands of fairy babies patting the glass, and +fancied herself out in the careering storm, hovering on the wings of +the wind over the house in which she lay soft and warm--she had now the +garret room, in which the curtainless bed, with its bare poles, looked +like a vessel in distress at sea, and through the roof of which the +winds found easy way. But the winds were warm now, and through the +skylight the sunbeams illuminated the floor, showing all the rat-holes +and wretchedness of decay. + +There was comfort out of doors in the daytime--in the sky and the +fields and all the "goings-on of life." And this night, after this talk +with Tibbie, Annie did not much mind going back to the garret. Nor did +she lie awake to think about the beautiful lady Alec had taken home +with him. + +And she dreamed again that she saw the Son of Man. There was a veil +over his face like the veil that Moses wore, but the face was so bright +that it almost melted the veil away, and she saw what made her love +that face more than the presence of Alec, more than the kindness of Mrs +Forbes or Dowie, more than the memory of her father. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII. + + +Alec did not fall asleep so soon. The thought that Kate was in the +house--asleep in the next room, kept him awake. Yet he woke the next +morning earlier than usual. There were bands of golden light upon the +wall, though Kate would not be awake for hours yet. + +He sprung out of bed, and ran to the banks of the Glamour. Upon the +cold morning stream the sun-rays fell slanting and gentle. He plunged +in, and washed the dreams from his eyes with a dive, and a swim under +water. Then he rose to the surface and swam slowly about under the +overhanging willows, and earthy banks hollowed by the river's flow into +cold damp caves, up into the brown shadows of which the water cast a +flickering shimmer. Then he dressed himself, and lay down on the meadow +grass, each blade of which shadowed its neighbour in the slant +sunlight. Cool as it still was with the coldness of the vanished +twilight, it yet felt warm to his bare feet, fresh from the waters that +had crept down through the night from the high moor-lands. He fell fast +asleep, and the sheep came and fed about him, as if he had been one of +themselves. When he woke, the sun was high; and when he reached the +house, he found his mother and Kate already seated at breakfast--Kate +in the prettiest of cotton dresses, looking as fresh and country-like +as the morning itself. The window was open, and through the encircling +ivy, as through a filter of shadows, the air came fresh and cool. +Beyond the shadow of the house lay the sunshine, a warm sea of brooding +glory, of still power; not the power of flashing into storms of +splendour beneath strange winds, but of waking up and cherishing to +beauty the shy life that lay hidden in all remotest corners of the +teeming earth. + +"What are you going to do with Kate to-day, Alec?" said his mother. + +"Whatever Kate likes," answered Alec. + +"I have no choice," returned Kate. "I don't know yet what I have to +choose between. I am in your hands, Alec." + +It was the first time she had called him by his name, and a spear of +sunshine seemed to quiver in his heart. He was restless as a hyena till +she was ready. He then led her to the banks of the river, here low and +grassy, with plenty of wild flowers, and a low babblement everywhere. + +"This is delightful," said Kate. "I will come here as often as you +like, and you shall read to me." + +"What shall I read? Would you like one of Sir Walter's novels?" + +"Just the thing." + +Alec started at full speed for the house. + +"Stop," cried Kate. "You are not going to leave me alone beside +this--talking water?" + +"I thought you liked the water," said Alec. + +"Yes. But I don't want to be left alone beside it. I will go with you, +and get some work." + +She turned away from the stream with a strange backward look, and they +walked home. + +But as Kate showed some disinclination to return to the river-side, +Alec put a seat for her near the house, in the shadow of a silver +birch, and threw himself on the grass at her feet. There he began to +read the _Antiquary_, only half understanding it, in the enchantment of +knowing that he was lying at her feet, and had only to look up to see +her eyes. At noon, Mrs Forbes sent them a dish of curds, and a great +jug of cream, with oatcakes, and butter soft from the churn; and the +rippling shadow of the birch played over the white curds and the golden +butter as they ate. + +Am I not now fairly afloat upon the gentle stream of an idyl? Shall I +watch the banks as they glide past, and record each fairy-headed flower +that looks at its image in the wave? Or shall I mow them down and sweep +them together in a sentence? + +I will gather a few of the flowers, and leave the rest. But first I +will make a remark or two upon the young people. + +Those amongst my readers who have had the happiness to lead innocent +boy-lives, will know what a marvellous delight it was to Alec to have +this girl near him in his own home and his own haunts. He never +speculated on her character or nature, any more than Hamlet did about +those of Ophelia before he was compelled to doubt womankind. His own +principles were existent only in a latent condition, undeveloped from +good impulses and kind sentiments. For instance: he would help any one +whose necessity happened to make an impression upon him, but he never +took pains to enter into the feelings of others--to understand them +from their own point of view: he never had said to himself, "That is +another me." + +Correspondent to this condition were some of Kate's theories of life +and its duties. + +The question came up, whether a certain lady in fiction had done right +in running away with her lover. Mrs Forbes made a rather decided remark +on the subject. Kate said nothing, but her face glowed. + +"Tell us what you think about it, Katie," said Mrs Forbes. + +Katie was silent for a moment. Then with the air of a martyr, from whom +the rack can only extort a fuller confession of his faith--though I +fear she had no deeper gospel at the root of it than Byron had brought +her--she answered: + +"I think a woman must give up everything for love." + +She was then precisely of the same opinion as Jean Paul's Linda in +_Titan_. + +"That is very true, I daresay," said Mrs Forbes; "but I fear you mean +only one kind of love. Does a woman owe no love to her father or mother +because she has a lover?" + +To this plain question Kate made no reply, but her look changed to one +of obstinacy. + +Her mother died when she was a child, and her father had kept himself +shut up in his study, leaving her chiefly to the care of a Shetland +nurse, who told her Scandinavian stories from morning to night, with +invention ever ready to supply any blank in the tablets of her memory. + +Alec thought his mother's opinion the more to be approved, and Kate's +the more to be admired; showing the lack of entireness in his nature, +by thus dissociating the good and the admirable. That which is best +cannot be less admirable than that which is not best. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX. + + +The next day saw Alec walking by the side of Kate mounted on his pony, +up a steep path to the top of one of the highest hills surrounding the +valley. It was a wild hill, with hardly anything growing on it but +heather, which would make it regal with purple in the autumn: no tree +could stand the blasts that blew over that hill in winter. Having +climbed to the topmost point, they stood and gazed. The country lay +outstretched beneath in the glow of the June day, while around them +flitted the cool airs of heaven. Above them rose the soaring blue of +the June sky, with a white cloud or two floating in it, and a blue peak +or two leaning its colour against it. Through the green grass and the +green corn below crept two silvery threads, meeting far away and +flowing in one--the two rivers which watered the valley of +Strathglamour. Between the rivers lay the gray stone town, with its +roofs of thatch and slate. One of its main streets stopped suddenly at +the bridge with the three arches above Tibbie's cottage; and at the +other end of the bridge lay the green fields. + +The landscape was not one of the most beautiful, but it had a beauty of +its own, which is all a country or a woman needs; and Kate sat gazing +about her in evident delight. She had taken off her hat to feel the +wind, and her hair fell in golden heaps upon her shoulders, and the +wind and the sunbeams played at hide-and-seek in it. + +In a moment the pleasure vanished from her face. It clouded over, while +the country lay full in the sun. Her eyes no longer looked wide abroad, +but expressed defeat and retirement. Listlessly she began to gather her +hair together. + +"Do you ever feel as if you could not get room enough, Alec?" she said, +wearily. + +"No, I don't," he answered, honestly and stupidly. "I have always as +much as I want. I should have thought you would--up here." + +"I did feel satisfied for a moment; but it was only a moment. It is all +gone now. I shall never have room enough." + +Alec had nothing to say in reply. He never had anything to give Kate +but love; and now he gave her more love. It was all he was rich in. But +she did not care for his riches. And so, after gazing a while, she +turned towards the descent. Alec picked up her hat, and took his place +at the pony's head. He was not so happy as he thought he should be. +Somehow she was of another order, and he could not understand her--he +could only worship her. + +The whole of the hot afternoon they spent on the grass, whose mottling +of white clover filled the wandering airs with the odours of the honey +of Hymettus. And after tea Kate sang, and Alec drank every tone as if +his soul lived by hearing. + +In this region the sun works long after hours in the summer, and they +went out to see him go down weary. They leaned together over the gate +and looked at the level glory, which now burned red and dim. Lamp of +life, it burns all night long in the eternal night of the universe, to +chase the primeval darkness from the great entrance hall of the "human +mortals." + +"What a long shadow everything throws!" said Kate. "When the shadows +gather all together, and melt into one, then it is night. Look how the +light creeps about the roots of the grass on the ridge, as if it were +looking for something between the shadows. They are both going to die. +Now they begin." + +The sun diminished to a star--a spark of crimson fire, and vanished. As +if he had sunk in a pool of air, and made it overflow, a gentle ripple +of wind blew from the sunset over the grass. They could see the grass +bending and swaying and bathing in its coolness before it came to them. +It blew on their faces at length, and whispered something they could +not understand, making Kate think of her mother, and Alec of Kate. + +Now that same breeze blew upon Tibbie and Annie, as they sat in the +patch of meadow by the cottage, between the river and the _litster's +dam_. It made Tibbie think of death, the opener of sleeping eyes, the +uplifter of hanging hands. For Tibbie's darkness was the shadow of her +grave, on the further border of which the light was breaking in music. +Death and resurrection were the same thing to blind old Tibbie. + +When the gentle, washing wind blew upon Annie, she thought of the wind +that bloweth were it listeth; and that, if ever the Spirit of God blew +upon her, she would feel it just like that wind of summer sunset--so +cool, so blessed, so gentle, so living! And was it not God that +breathed that wind upon her? Was he not even then breathing his Spirit +into the soul of that woman-child? + +It blew upon Andrew Constable, as he stood in his shop-door, the easy +labour of his day all but over. And he said to his little weasel-faced, +_douce_, old-fashioned child who stood leaning against the other +door-cheek: + +"That's a fine caller bit blastie, Isie! Dinna ye like to fin' 't +blawin' upo' yer het cheeks, dawtie?" + +And she answered, + +"Ay, I like it weel, daddie; but it min's me some upo' the winter." + +And Andrew looked anxiously at the pale face of his child, who, at six +years old, in the month of June, had no business to know that there was +any winter. But she was the child of elderly parents, and had not been +born in time; so that she was now in reality about twenty. + +It blew upon Robert Bruce, who had just run out into the _yard_, to see +how his potatoes and cabbages were coming on. He said + +"It's some cauld," and ran in again to put on his hat. + +Alec and Kate, I have said, stood looking into the darkening field. A +great flock of rooks which filled the air with their rooky gossip, was +flying straight home to an old gray ruin just visible amongst some +ancient trees. They had been gathering worms and grubs all day, and now +it was bed time. They felt, through all their black feathers, the +coolness of that evening breeze which came from the cloudy mausoleum +already built over the grave of the down-gone sun. + +Kate hearing them rejoicing far overhead, searched for them in the +darkening sky, found them, and watched their flight, till the black +specks were dissolved in the distance. They are not the most poetic of +birds, but in a darkening country twilight, over silent fields, they +blend into the general tone, till even their noisy caw suggests repose. +But it was room Kate wanted, not rest. She would know one day, however, +that room and rest are the same, and that the longings for both spring +from the same need. + +"What place is that in the trees?" she asked. + +"The old Castle of Glamerton," answered Alec. "Would you like to go and +see it?" + +"Yes; very much." + +"We'll go to-morrow, then." + +"The dew is beginning to fall, Kate," said Mrs Forbes, who now joined +them. "You had better come in." + +Alec lingered behind. An unknown emotion drew his heart towards the +earth. He would see her go to sleep in the twilight, which was now +beginning to brood over her, as with the brown wings of a lovely +dull-hued hen-bird. The daisies were all asleep, spotting the green +grass with stars of carmine; for their closed red tips, like the +finger-points of two fairy hands, tenderly joined together, pointed up +in little cones to keep the yellow stars warm within, that they might +shine bright when the great star of day came to look for them. The +light of the down-gone sun, the garment of Aurora, which, so short +would be her rest, she had not drawn close around her on her couch, +floated up on the horizon, and swept slowly northwards, lightly upborne +on that pale sea of delicate green and gold, to flicker all night +around the northern coast of the sky, and, streaming up in the heavens, +melt at last in the glory of the uprisen Titan. The trees stood still +and shadowy as clouds, but breathing out mysterious odours. The stars +overhead, half-molten away in the ghostly light that would not go, were +yet busy at their night-work, ministering to the dark sides of the +other worlds. There was no moon. A wide stillness and peace, as of a +heart at rest, filled space, and lying upon the human souls with a +persistent quietness that might be felt, made them know what _might_ be +theirs. Now and then a bird sprang out with a sudden tremor of leaves, +suddenly stilled. But the bats came and went in silence, like feelings +yet unembodied in thoughts, vanishing before the sight had time to be +startled at their appearing. All was marvel. And the marvel of all was +there--where the light glimmered faintly through the foliage. He +approached the house with an awe akin to that with which an old poetic +Egyptian drew near to the chamber of the goddess Isis. + +He entered, and his Isis was laughing merrily. + +In the morning, great sun-crested clouds with dark sides hung overhead; +and while they sat at breakfast, one of those glorious showers, each of +whose great drops carries a sun-spark in its heart, fell on the walks +with a tumult of gentle noises, and on the grass almost as silently as +if it had been another mossy cloud. The leaves of the ivy hanging over +the windows quivered and shook, each for itself, beneath the drops; and +between the drops, one of which would have beaten him to the earth, +wound and darted in safety a great humble bee. + +Kate and Alec went to the open window and looked out on the rainy +world, breathing the odours released from the grass and the ground. +Alec turned from the window to Kate's face, and saw upon it a keen, yet +solemn delight. But as he gazed, he saw a cloud come over it. The +arched upper lip dropped sadly upon the other, and she looked troubled +and cold. Instinctively he glanced out again for the cause. The rain +had become thick and small, and a light opposing wind disordered its +descent with broken and crossing lines. + +This change from a summer to a winter rain had altered Kate's mood, and +her face was now, as always, a reflex of the face of nature. + +"Shut the window, please Alec," she said, with a shiver. + +"We'll have a fire directly," said Alec. + +"No, no," returned Kate, trying to smile. "Just fetch me a shawl from +the closet in my room." + +Alec had not been in his own room since Kate came. He entered it with a +kind of gentle awe, and stood just within the door, gazing as if +rebuked. + +From a pair of tiny shoes under the dressing-table, radiated a whole +roomful of feminity. He was almost afraid to go further, and would not +have dared to look in the mirror. In three days her mere presence had +made the room marvellous. + +Recovering himself, he hastened to the cloaet, got the shawl, and went +down the stair three steps at a time. + +"Couldn't you find it, Alec?" said Kate. + +"Oh! yes; I found it at once," answered Alec, blushing to the eyes. + +I wonder whether Kate guessed what made the boy blush. But it does not +matter much now. She did look curiously at him for a moment. + +"Just help me with my shawl," she said. + + + + + + +CHAPTER L. + + +During all this time, Annie had seen scarcely anything of her aunt +Margaret Anderson. Ever since Bruce had offended her, on the occasion +of her first visit, she had taken her custom elsewhere, and had never +even called to see her niece. Annie had met her several times in the +street, and that was all. Hence, on one of the fine afternoons of that +unusually fine summer, and partly, perhaps, from missing the kindness +of Mrs Forbes, Annie took a longing to see her old aunt, and set out +for Clippenstrae to visit her. It was a walk of two miles, chiefly +along the high road, bordered in part by accessible plantation. Through +this she loitered along, enjoying the few wild flowers and the many +lights and shadows, so that it was almost evening before she reached +her destination. + +"Preserve 's a'! Annie Anderson, what brings ye here this time o' +nicht?" exclaimed her aunt. + +"It's a lang time sin I saw ye, auntie, and I wantit to see ye." + +"Weel, come butt the hoose. Ye're growin' a great muckle quean," said +her aunt, inclined to a favourable consideration of her by her growth. + +Margaret "didna like bairns--menseless craturs--aye wantin' ither fowk +to do for them!" But growth was a kind of regenerating process in her +eyes, and when a girl began to look like a woman, she regarded it as an +outward sign of conversion, or something equally valuable.--So she +conducted her into the presence of her uncle, a little old man, worn +and bent, with gray locks peeping out from under a Highland bonnet. + +"This is my brither Jeames's bairn," she said. + +The old man received her kindly, called her his dawtie, and made her +sit down by him on a three-legged _creepie_, talking to her as if she +had been quite a child, while she, capable of high converse as she was, +replied in corresponding terms. Her great-aunt was confined to her bed +with rheumatism. Supper was preparing, and Annie was not sorry to have +a share, for indeed, during the summer, her meals were often scanty +enough. While they ate, the old man kept helping her to the best, +talking to her all the time. + +"Will ye no come and bide wi' me, dawtie?" he said, meaning little by +the question. + +"Na, na," answered Margaret for her. "She's at the schule, ye ken, +uncle, and we maunna interfere wi' her schoolin.'--Hoo does that leein' +ted, Robert Bruce, carry himsel' to ye, bairn?" + +"Ow! I jist never min' him," answered Annie. + +"Weel, it's a' he deserves at your han'. But gin I war you, I wad let +him ken that gin he saws your corn ye hae a richt to raither mair nor +his gleanins." + +"I dinna ken what ye mean," answered Annie. + +"Ow! na; I daursay no. But ye may jist as weel ken noo, that that ted, +Robert Bruce, has twa hunner poun' odd o' yer ain, lassie; and gin he +doesna use ye weel, ye can jist tell him 'at I telt ye sae." + +This piece of news had not the overpowering effect upon Annie which, +perhaps, her aunt had expected. No doubt the money seemed in her eyes a +limitless fortune; but then Bruce had it. She might as soon think of +robbing a bear of her whelps as getting her own from Bruce. Besides, +what could she do with it if she had it? And she had not yet acquired +the faculty of loving money for its own sake. When she rose to take her +leave, she felt little richer than when she entered, save for the kind +words of John Peterson. + +"It's ower late for ye to gang hame yer lane, dawtie," said the old +man. + +"I'm nae that fleyt," answered Annie. + +"Weel, gin ye walk wi' Him, the mirk'll be licht aboot ye," said he, +taking off his Highland bonnet, and looking up with a silent +recognition of the care of _Him_. "Be a gude lass," he resumed, +replacing his bonnet, "an' rin hame as fest's ye can. Gude nicht to ye, +dawtie." + +Rejoicing as if she had found her long-lost home, Annie went out into +the deep gloamin feeling it impossible she should be frightened at +anything. But when she came to the part of the road bordered with +trees, she could not help fancying she saw a figure flitting along from +tree to tree just within the deeper dusk of the wood, and as she +hurried on, fancy grew to fear. Presently she heard awful sounds, like +the subdued growling of wild beasts. She would have taken to her heels +in terror, but she reflected that thereby she would only insure +pursuit, whereas she might slip away unperceived. As she reached a +stile leading into the wood, however, a dusky figure came bounding over +it, and advanced towards her. To her relief it went on two legs; and +when it came nearer she thought she recognized some traits of old +acquaintance about it. When it was within a couple of yards of her, as +she still pursued her way towards Glamerton, she stopped and cried out +joyfully: + +"Curly!"--for it was her old vice-champion. + +"Annie!" was the equally joyful response. + +"I thocht ye was a wild beast!" said Annie. + +"I was only growlin' for fun to mysel'," answered Curly, who would have +done it all the more if he had known there was any one on the road. "I +didna ken 'at I was fleggin' onybody. An' hoo are ye, Annie? An' hoo's +Blister Bruce?" + +For Curly was dreadfully prolific in nicknames. + +Annie had not seen him for six months. He had continued to show himself +so full of mischief, though of a comparatively innocent sort, that his +father thought it better at last to send him to a town at some distance +to learn the trade of a saddler, for which he had shown a preference. + +This was his first visit to his home. Hitherto his father had received +no complaints of his behaviour, and had now begged a holiday. + +"Ye're grown sair, Annie," he said. + +"Sae are ye, Curly," answered Annie. + +"An' hoo's Alec?" + +"He's verra weel." + +Whereupon much talk followed, which need not be recorded. At length +Curly said: + +"And hoo's the rottans?" + +"Ower weel and thrivin'." + +"Jist pit yer han' i' my coat-pooch, and see what I hae broucht ye." + +Knowing Curly's propensities, Annie refused. + +"It's a wild beast," said Curly. "I'll lat it oot upo' ye. It was it +'at made a' that roarin' i' the plantin'." + +So saying, he pulled out of his pocket the most delicate tortoiseshell +kitten, not half the beauty of which could be perceived in the gloamin, +which is all the northern summer night. He threw it at Annie, but she +had seen enough not to be afraid to catch it in her hands. + +"Did ye fess this a' the road frae Spinnie to me, Curly?" + +"Ay did I, Annie. Ye see I dinna like rottans. But ye maun haud it oot +o' their gait for a feow weeks, or they'll rive't a' to bits. It'll +sune be a match for them though, I s' warran'. She comes o' a killin' +breed." + +Annie took the kitten home, and it shared her bed that night. + +"What's that meowlin?" asked Bruce the next morning, the moment he rose +from the genuflexion of morning prayers. + +"It's my kittlin'," answered Annie. "I'll lat ye see't." + +"We hae ower mony mou's i' the hoose already," said Bruce, as she +returned with the little peering baby-animal in her arms. "We hae nae +room for mair. Here, Rob, tak the cratur, an' pit a tow aboot its neck, +an' a stane to the tow, an' fling't into the Glamour." + +Annie, not waiting to parley, darted from the house with the kitten. + +"Rin efter her, Rob," said Bruce, "an' tak' it frae her, and droon't. +We canna hae the hoose swarmin'." + +Bob bolted after her, delighted with his commission. But instead of +finding her at the door, as he had expected, he saw her already a long +way up the street, flying like the wind. He started in keen pursuit. He +was now a great lumbering boy, and although Annie's wind was not equal +to his, she was more fleet. She took the direct road to Howglen, and +Rob kept floundering after her. Before she reached the footbridge she +was nearly breathless, and he was gaining fast upon her. Just as she +turned the corner of the road, leading up on the other side of the +water, she met Alec and Kate. Unable to speak, she passed without +appeal. But there was no need to ask the cause of her pale agonized +face, for there was young Bruce at her heels. Alec collared him +instantly. + +"What are you up to?" he asked. + +"Naething," answered the panting pursuer. + +"Gin ye be efter naething, ye'll fin' that nearer hame," retorted Alec, +twisting him round in that direction, and giving him a kick to expedite +his return. "Lat me hear o' you troublin' Annie Anderson, an' I'll gar +ye loup oot o' yer skin the neist time I lay han's upo' ye. Gang hame." + +Rob obeyed like a frightened dog, while Annie pursued her course to +Howglen, as if her enemy had been still on her track. Rushing into the +parlour, she fell on the floor before Mrs Forbes, unable to utter a +word. The kitten sprung mewing out of her arms, and took refuge under +the sofa. + +"Mem, mem," she gasped at length, "tak' care o' my kittlin'. They want +to droon't. It's my ain. Curly gied it to me." + +Mrs Forbes comforted her, and readily undertook the tutelage. Annie was +very late for school, for Mrs Forbes made her have another breakfast +before she went. But Mr Malison was in a good humour that day, and said +nothing. Rob Bruce looked devils at her. What he had told his father I +do not know; but whatever it was, it was all written down in Bruce's +mental books to the debit of Alexander Forbes of Howglen. + +Mrs Forbes's heart smote her when she found to what persecution her +little friend was exposed during those times when her favour was +practically although not really withdrawn; but she did not see how she +could well remedy it. She was herself in the power of Bruce, and +expostulation from her would be worth little; while to have Annie to +the house as before would involve consequences unpleasant to all +concerned. She resolved to make up for it by being kinder to her than +ever as soon as Alec should have followed Kate to the precincts of the +university; while for the present she comforted both herself and Annie +by telling her to be sure to come to her when she found herself in any +trouble. + +But Annie was not one to apply to her friends except she was in great +need of their help. The present case had been one of life and death. +She found no further occasion to visit Mrs Forbes before Kate and Alec +were both gone. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LI. + + +On a sleepy summer afternoon, just when the sunshine begins to turn +yellow, Annie was sitting with Tibbie on the grass in front of her +little cottage, whose door looked up the river. The cottage stood on a +small rocky eminence at the foot of the bridge. Underneath the approach +to it from the bridge, the dyer's mill-race ran by a passage cut in the +rock, leading to the third arch of the bridge built over the Glamour. +Towards the river, the rock went down steep to the little meadow. It +was a triangular piece of smooth grass growing on the old bed of the +river, which for many years had been leaving this side, and wearing +away the opposite bank. It lay between the river, the dyer's race, and +the bridge, one of the stone piers of which rose from it. The grass +which grew upon it was short, thick, and delicate. On the opposite side +of the river lay a field for bleaching the linen, which was the chief +manufacture of that country. Hence it enjoyed the privilege of immunity +from the ploughshare. None of its daisies ever met the fate of Burn's + + "Wee, modest, crimson-tippit flower." + +But indeed so constantly was the grass mown to keep it short, that +there was scarcely a daisy to be seen in it, the long broad lines of +white linen usurping their place, and in their stead keeping up the +contrast of white and green. Around Tibbie and Annie however the +daisies were shining back to the sun, confidently, with their hearts of +gold and their rays of silver. And the butter-cups were all of gold; +and the queen-of-the-meadow, which grew tall at the water-side, +perfumed the whole region with her crown of silvery blossom. Tibbie's +blind face was turned towards the sun; and her hands were busy as ants +with her knitting needles, for she was making a pair of worsted +stockings for Annie against the winter. No one could fit stockings so +well as Tibbie. + +"Wha's that comin', lassie?" she asked. + +Annie, who had heard no one, glanced round, and, rising, said, + +"It's Thomas Crann." + +"That's no Thomas Crann," rejoined Tibbie. "I dinna hear the host +(cough) o' 'im." + +Thomas came up, pale and limping a little. + +"That's no Thomas Crann?" repeated Tibbie, before he had time to +address her. + +"What for no, Tibbie?" returned Thomas. + +"'Cause I canna hear yer breath, Thamas." + +"That's a sign that I hae the mair o' 't, Tibbie. I'm sae muckle better +o' that ashma, that I think whiles the Lord maun hae blawn into my +nostrils anither breath o' that life that he breathed first into Edam +an' Eve." + +"I'm richt glaid to hear't, Thamas. Breath maun come frae him ae gait +or ither." + +"Nae doobt, Tibbie." + +"Will ye sit doon asides's, Thamas? It's lang sin' I hae seen ye." + +Tibbie always spoke of _seeing_ people. + +"Ay will I, Tibbie. I haena muckle upo' my han's jist the day. Ye see I +haena won richt into my wark again yet." + +"Annie an' me 's jist been haeing a crack thegither aboot this thing +an' that thing, Thamas," said Tibbie, dropping her knitting on her +knees, and folding her palms together. "Maybe _ye_ could tell me +whether there be ony likeness atween the licht that I canna see and +that soun' o' the water rinnin', aye rinnin', that I like sae weel to +hear." + +For it did not need the gentle warm wind, floating rather than blowing +down the river that afternoon, to bring to their ears the sound of the +_entick_, or dam built across the river, to send the water to the +dyer's wheel; for that sound was in Tibbie's cottage day and night, +mingled with the nearer, gentler, and stronger gurgling of the swift, +deep, _deedie_ water in the race, that hurried, aware of its work, with +small noise and much soft-sliding force towards the wheel. + +"Weel, ye see, Tibbie," answered Thomas, "it's nearhan' as ill for the +like o' us to unnerstan' your blin'ness as it may be for you to +unnerstan' oor sicht." + +"Deed maybe neyther o' 's kens muckle aboot oor ain gift either o' +sicht or blin'ness.--Say onything ye like, gin ye dinna tell me, as the +bairn here ance did, that I cudna ken what the licht was. I kenna what +yer sicht may be, and I'm thinkin' I care as little. But weel ken I +what the licht is." + +"Tibbie, dinna be ill-nater'd, like me. Ye hae no call to that same. +I'm tryin' to answer your queston. And gin ye interrup' me again, I'll +rise an' gang hame." + +"Say awa', Thamas. Never heed me. I'm some cankert whiles. I ken that +weel eneuch." + +"Ye hae nae business to be cankert, Tibbie?" + +"Nae mair nor ither fowk." + +"Less, Tibbie; less, woman." + +"Hoo mak' ye that oot?" asked Tibbie, defensively. + +"Ye dinna see the things to anger ye that ither fowk sees.--As I cam' +doon the street this minute, I cam' upo' twa laddies--ye ken +them--they're twins--ane o' them cripple--" + +"Ay, that was Murdoch Malison's wark!" interposed Tibbie, with +indignant reminiscence. + +"The man's been sorry for't this mony a day," said Thomas; "sae we +maunna come ower't again, Tibbie." + +"Verra weel, Thamas; I s' haud my tongue. What about the laddies?" + +"They war fechtin' i' the verra street; ruggin' ane anither's heids, +an' peggin' at ane anither's noses, an' doin' their verra endeevour to +destroy the image o' the Almichty--it wasna muckle o' 't that was left +to blaud. I teuk and throosh them baith." + +"An' what cam' o' the image o' the Almichty?" asked Tibbie, with a +grotesque contortion of her mouth, and a roll of her veiled eyeballs. +"I doobt, Thamas," she continued, "ye angert yersel' mair nor ye +quaietit them wi' the thrashin'. The wrath o' man, ye ken, Thamas, +worketh not the richtyisness o' God." + +There was not a person in Glamerton who would have dared to speak thus +to Thomas Crann but Tibbie Dyster, perhaps because there was not one +who had such a respect for him. Possibly the darkness about her made +her bolder; but I think it was her truth, which is another word for +_love_, however unlike love the outcome may look, that made her able to +speak in this fashion. + +Thomas was silent for a long minute. Then he said: + +"Maybe ye're i' the richt, Tibbie. Ye aye anger me; but I wad raither +hae a body anger me wi' tellin' me the trowth, nor I wad hae a' the +fair words i' the dictionar'. It's a strange thing, wumman, but aye +whan a body's tryin' maist to gang upricht he's sure to catch a +dreidfu' fa'. There I hae been warstlin' wi' my ill-temper mair nor +ever I did i' my life afore; and I never i' my days lickit twa laddies +for lickin' ane anither till jist this verra day. And I prayed against +mysel' afore I cam' oot. I canna win at the boddom o' 't." + +"There's waur things nor an ill temper, Thamas. No that it's bonnie +ava'. And it's nane like Him 'at was meek and lowly o' hert. But, as I +say, there's waur fauts nor an ill temper. It wad be no gain to you, +Thamas, and no glory to Him whase will's your sanctification, gin ye +war to owercome yer temper, and syne think a heap o' yersel' that ye +had done't. Maybe that's what for yer no allooed to be victorious in +yer endeevours." + +"'Deed, maybe, Tibbie," said Thomas solemnly. "And I'm some doobtfu' +forbye, whether I mayna be tryin' to ripe oot the stockin' frae the +wrang en' o' 't. I doobt the fau't's nae sae muckle i' my temper as i' +my hert. It's mair love that I want, Tibbie. Gin I lo'ed my neebor as +mysel', I cudna be sae ill-natert till him; though 'deed, whiles, I'm +angry eneuch at mysel'--a hantle waur nor at him." + +"Verra true, Thamas," answered Tibbie. "Perfect love casteth oot fear, +'cause there's nae room for the twa o' them; and I daursay it wad be +the same wi' the temper." + +"But I'm no gaein' to gie in to bein' ill-natert for a' that," said +Thomas, as if alarmed at the possible consequences of the conclusion. + +"Na na. Resist ye the deevil, Thamas. Haud at him, man. He's sure to +rin at the lang last. But I'm feared ye'll gang awa' ohn tellt me aboot +the licht and the water. Whan I'm sittin' here o' the girse, hearkenin' +to the water, as it comes murrin', and soufflin', and gurglin', on to +me, and syne by me and awa', as gin it war spinnin' and twistin' a lot +o' bonnie wee sounies a' intil ae muckle gran' soun', it pits me i' +min' o' the text that says, 'His voice was as the sound o' mony +waters.' Noo his face is licht--ye ken that, divna ye?--and gin his +voice be like the water, there maun be something like atween the licht +and the water, ye ken. That's what garred me spier at ye, Thamas." + +"Weel, I dinna ken richtly hoo to answer ye, Tibbie; but at this moment +the licht's playin' bonnie upo' the entick--shimmerin' and brakin' upo' +the water, as hit bracks upo' the stanes afore it fa's. An' what fa's, +it luiks as gin it took the licht wi' 't i' the wame o' 't like. Eh! +it's bonnie, woman; and I wiss ye had the sicht o' yer een to see't +wi'; though ye do preten' to think little o' 't." + +"Weel, weel! my time's comin', Thamas; and I maun jist bide till it +comes. Ye canna help me, I see that. Gin I could only open my een for +ae minute, I wad ken a' aboot it, and be able to answer mysel'.--I +think we 'll gang into the hoose, for I canna bide it langer." + +All the time they were talking Annie was watching Alec's boat, which +had dropped down the river, and was floating in the sunshine above the +dam. Thomas must have seen it too, for it was in the very heart of the +radiance reflected to them from the watery mirror. But Alec was a +painful subject with Thomas, for when they chanced to meet now, nothing +more than the passing salute of ordinary acquaintance was exchanged. +And Thomas was not able to be indulgent to young people. Certain facts +in his nature, as well as certain articles in his creed, rendered him +unable. So, being one of those who never speak of what is painful to +them if they can avoid it--thinking all the more, he talked about the +light, and said nothing about the boat that was in the middle of it. +Had Alec been rowing, Tibbie would have heard the oars; but he only +paddled enough to keep the boat from drifting on to the dam. Kate sat +in the stern looking at the water with half-closed eyes, and Alec sat +looking at Kate, as if his eyes were made only for her. And Annie sat +in the meadow, and she too looked at Kate; and she thought how pretty +she was, and how she must like being rowed about in the old boat. It +seemed quite an old boat now. An age had passed since her name was +painted on it. She wondered if _The Bonnie Annie_ was worn off the +stern yet; or if Alec had painted it out, and put the name of the +pretty lady instead. When Tibbie and Thomas walked away into the house, +Annie lingered behind on the grass. + +The sun sank slanting and slow, yet he did sink, lower and lower; till +at length Alec leaned back with a stronger pull on the oars, and the +boat crept away up the stream, lessening as it crept, and, turning a +curve in the river, was lost. Still she sat on, with one hand lying +listlessly in her lap, and the other plucking blades of grass and +making a little heap of them beside her, till she had pulled a spot +quite bare, and the brown earth peeped through between the roots. Then +she rose, went up to the door of the cottage, called a good night to +Tibbie, and took her way home. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LII. + + +My story has not to do with city-life, in which occur frequent shocks, +changes, and recombinations, but with the life of a country region; and +is, therefore, "to a lingering motion bound," like the day, like the +ripening of the harvest, like the growth of all good things. But clouds +and rainbows will come in the quietest skies; adventures and +coincidences in the quietest village. + +As Kate and Alec walked along the street, on their way to the castle, +one of the coaches from the county-town drove up with its four +thorough-breds. + +"What a handsome fellow the driver is!" said Kate. + +Alec looked up at the box. There sat Beauchamp, with the ribbons in his +grasp, handling his horses with composure and skill. Beside him sat the +owner of the coach, a _laird_ of the neighbourhood. + +Certainly Beauchamp was a handsome fellow. But a sting went through +Alec's heart. It was the first time that he thought of his own person +in comparison with another. That she should admire Beauchamp, though he +was handsome! + +The memory even of that moment made him writhe on his bed years after; +for a mental and bodily wound are alike in this, that after there is +but the scar of either left, bad weather will revive the torture. His +face fell. Kate saw it, and did him some injustice. They walked on in +silence, in the shadow of a high wall. Kate looked up at the top of the +wall and stopped. Alec looked at her. Her face was as full of light as +a diamond in the sun. He forgot all his jealousy. The fresh tide of his +love swept it away, or at least covered it. On the top of the wall, in +the sun, grew one wild scarlet poppy, a delicate transparent glory, +through which the sunlight shone, staining itself red, and almost +dissolving the poppy. + +The red light melted away the mist between them, and they walked in it +up to the ruined walls. Long grass grew about them, close to the very +door, which was locked, that if old Time could not be kept out, younger +destroyers might. Other walls stood around, vitrified by fire--the +remnants of an older castle still, about which Jamblichus might have +spied the lingering phantoms of many a terrible deed. + +They entered by the door in the great tower, under the spiky remnants +of the spiral stair projecting from the huge circular wall. To the +right, a steep descent, once a stair, led down to the cellars and the +dungeon; a terrible place, the visible negations of which are horrid, +and need no popular legends such as Alec had been telling Kate, of a +walled-up door and a lost room, to add to their influence. It was no +wonder that when he held out his hand to lead her down into the +darkness and through winding ways to the mouth of the far-off beehive +dungeon--it was no wonder, I say, that she should shrink and draw back. +A few rays came through the decayed planks of the door which Alec had +pushed to behind them, and fell upon the rubbish of centuries sloping +in the brown light and damp air down into the abyss. One larger ray +from the keyhole fell upon Kate's face, and showed it blanched with +fear, and her eyes distended with the effort to see through the gloom. + +At that moment, a sweet, low voice came from somewhere, out of the +darkness, saying: + +"Dinna be feared, mem, to gang whaur Alec wants ye to gang. Ye can +lippen (trust) to _him_." + +Staring in the direction of the sound, Kate saw the pale face of a +slender--half child, half maiden, glimmering across the gulf that led +to the dungeon. She stood in the midst of a sepulchral light, whose +faintness differed from mere obscuration, inasmuch as it told how +bright it was out of doors in the sun. Annie, I say, stood in this +dimness--a dusky and yet radiant creature, seeming to throw off from +her a faint brown light--a lovely, earth-stained ghost. + +"Oh! Annie, is that you?" said Alec. + +"Ay is't, Alec," Annie answered. + +"This is an old schoolfellow of mine," he said, turning to Kate, who +was looking haughtily at the girl. + +"Oh! is it?" said Kate, condescending. + +Between the two, each looking ghostly to the other, lay a dark +cavern-mouth that seemed to go down to Hades. + +"Wonna ye gang doon, mem?" said Annie. + +"No, thank you," answered Kate, decisively. + +"Alec'll tak' guid care o' ye, mem." + +"Oh! yes, I daresay; but I had rather not." + +Alec said nothing. Kate would not trust him then! He would not have +thought much of it, however, but for what had passed before. Would she +have gone with Beauchamp if he had asked her? Ah! if he had asked +Annie, she too would have turned pale, but she would have laid her hand +in his, and gone with him. + +"Gin ye want to gang up, than," she said, "I'll lat ye see the easiest +road. It's roun' this way." + +And she pointed to a narrow ledge between the descent and the circular +wall, by which they could cross to where she stood. But Alec, who had +no desire for Annie's company, declined her guidance, and took Kate up +a nearer though more difficult ascent to the higher level. Here all the +floors of the castle lay in dust beneath their feet, mingled with +fragments of chimney-piece and battlement. The whole central space lay +open to the sky. + +Annie remained standing on the edge of the dungeon-slope. + +She had been on her way to see Tibbie, when she caught a glimpse of +Kate and Alec as they passed. Since watching them in the boat the +evening before, she had been longing to speak to Alec, longing to see +Kate nearer: perhaps the beautiful lady would let her love her. She +guessed where they were going, and across the fields she bounded like a +fawn, straight as the crows flew home to the precincts of that "ancient +rest," and reached it before them. She did not need to fetch the key, +for she knew a hole on the level of the grass, wide enough to let her +creep through the two yards of wall. So she crept in and took her place +near the door. + +After they had rambled over the lower part of the building, Alec took +Kate up a small winding stair, past a succession of empty doorways like +eyeless sockets, leading nowhither because the floors had fallen. Kate +was so frightened by coming suddenly upon one after another of these +defenceless openings, that by the time she reached the broad platform, +which ran, all bare of parapet or battlement, around the top of the +tower, she felt faint; and when Alec scampered off like a goat to reach +the bartizan at the other side, she sank in an agony of fear upon the +landing of the stair. + +Looking down upon her from the top of the little turret, Alec saw that +she was ill, and returning instantly in great dismay, comforted her as +well as he could, and got her by degrees to the bottom. There was a +spot of grass inside the walls, on which he made her rest; and as the +sun shone upon her through one of the ruined windows, he stood so that +his shadow should fall across her eyes. While he stood thus a strange +fancy seized him. The sun became in his eyes a fiery dragon, which +having devoured half of the building, having eaten the inside out of +it, having torn and gnawed it everywhere, and having at length reached +its kernel, the sleeping beauty, whose bed had, in the long years, +mouldered away, and been replaced by the living grass, would swallow +her up anon, if he were not there to stand between and defend her. When +he looked at her next, she had indeed become the sleeping beauty he had +fancied her; and sleep had already restored the colour to her cheeks. + +Turning his eyes up to the tower from which they had just descended, he +saw, looking down upon them from one of the isolated doorways, the pale +face of Patrick Beauchamp. Alec bounded to the stair, rushed to the top +and round the platform, but found nobody. Beginning to doubt his eyes, +his next glance showed him Beauchamp standing over the sleeping girl. +He darted down the screw of the stair, but when he reached the bottom +Beauchamp had again disappeared. + +The same moment Kate began to wake. Her first movement brought Alec to +his senses: why should he follow Beauchamp? He returned to her side, +and they left the place, locked the door behind them, took the key to +the lodge, and went home. + +After tea, Alec, believing he had locked Beauchamp into the castle, +returned and searched the building from top to bottom, even got a +candle and a ladder, and went down into the dungeon, found no one, and +went home bewildered. + +While Alec was searching the vacant ruin, Beauchamp was comfortably +seated on the box of the Spitfire, tooling it halfway home--namely, as +far as the house of its owner, the laird above mentioned, who was a +relative of his mother, and whom he was then visiting. He had seen Kate +and Alec take the way to the castle, and had followed them, and found +the door unlocked. Watching them about the place, he ascended the stair +from another approach. The moment Alec looked up at him, he ran down +again, and had just dropped into a sort of well-like place which the +stair had used to fill on its way to a lower level, when he heard +Alec's feet thundering up over his head. Determined then to see what +the lady was like, for he had never seen her close, or without her +bonnet, which now lay beside her on the grass, he scrambled out, and, +approaching her cautiously, had a few moments to contemplate her before +he saw--for he kept a watch on the tower--that Alec had again caught +sight of him, when he immediately fled to his former refuge, which +communicated with a low-pitched story lying between the open level and +the vaults. + +The sound of the ponderous and rusty bolt reached him across the +cavernous space. He had not expected their immediate departure, and was +rather alarmed. His first impulse was to try whether he could not shoot +the bolt from the inside. This he soon found to be impossible. He next +turned to the windows in the front, but there the ground fell away so +suddenly that he was many feet from it--an altogether dangerous leap. +He was beginning to feel seriously concerned, when he heard a voice: + +"Do ye want to win oot, sir? They hae lockit the door." + +He turned but could see no one. Approaching the door again, he spied +Annie, in the dark twilight, standing on the edge of the descent to the +vaults. He had passed the spot not a minute before, and she was +certainly not there then. She looked as if she had just glided up that +slope from a region so dark that a spectre might haunt it all day long. +But Beauchamp was not of a fanciful disposition, and instead of taking +her for a spectre, he accosted her with easy insolence! + +"Tell me how to get out, my pretty girl, and I'll give you a kiss." + +Seized with a terror she did not understand, Annie darted into the +cavern between them, and sped down its steep into the darkness which +lay there like a lurking beast. A few yards down, however, she turned +aside, through a low doorway, into a vault. Beauchamp rushed after her, +passed her, and fell over a great stone lying in the middle of the way. +Annie heard him fall, sprung forth again, and, flying to the upper +light, found her way out, and left the discourteous knight a safe +captive, fallen upon that horrible stair.--A horrible stair it was: up +and down those steps, then steep and worn, now massed into an incline +of beaten earth, had swarmed, for months together, a multitude of naked +children, orphaned and captive by the sword, to and from the troughs at +which they fed like pigs, amidst the laughter of the lord of the castle +and his guests; while he who passed down them to the dungeon beyond, +had little chance of ever retracing his steps upward to the light. + +Annie told the keeper that there was a gentleman shut into the castle, +and then ran a mile and a half to Tibbie's cottage, without stopping. +But she did not say a word to Tibbie about her adventure. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LIII. + + +A spirit of prophecy, whether from the Lord or not, was abroad this +summer among the clergy of Glamerton, of all persuasions. Nor was its +influences confined to Glamerton or the clergy. The neighbourhood and +the laity had their share. Those who read their Bibles, of whom there +were many in that region, took to reading the prophecies, all the +prophecies, and scarcely anything but the prophecies. Upon these every +man, either for himself or following in the track of his spiritual +instructor, exercised his individual powers of interpretation, whose +fecundity did not altogether depend upon the amount of historical +knowledge. But whatever was known, whether about ancient Assyria or +modern Tahiti, found its theoretic place. Of course the Church of Rome +had her due share of the application from all parties; but neither the +Church of England, the Church of Scotland, nor either of the dissenting +sects, went without its portion freely dealt, each of the last finding +something that applied to all the rest. There were some, however, who +cared less for such modes, and, themselves given to a daily fight with +antichrist in their own hearts, sought--for they too read the +prophecies--to fix their reference on certain sins, and certain persons +classed according to these their sins. With a burning desire for the +safety of their neighbours, they took upon them the strongest words of +rebuke and condemnation, so that one might have thought they were +revelling in the idea of the vengeance at hand, instead of striving for +the rescue of their neighbours from the wrath to come. Among these were +Thomas Crann and his minister, Mr Turnbull. To them Glamerton was the +centre of creation, providence, and revelation. Every warning finger in +The Book pointed to it; every burst of indignation from the labouring +bosom of holy prophet was addressed to its sinners. And what the +ministers spoke to classes from the pulpit, Thomas, whose mode of +teaching was in so far Socratic that he singled out his man, applied to +the individual--in language occasionally too much to the point to admit +of repetition in the delicate ears of the readers of the nineteenth +century, some of whom are on such friendly terms with the vices +themselves, that they are shocked at the vulgarity and rudeness of the +_names_ given them by their forefathers. + +"Ye ken weel eneuch that ye're a drucken vratch, Peter Peterson. An' ye +ken weel eneuch that ye're nane better, forbye, than ye sud be. Naebody +ever accused ye o' stealin'; but gin ye haud on as ye're doin', that'll +come neist. But I doobt the wrath o' the Almichty'll be doon upo' 's +like a spate, as it was i' the days o' Noah, afore ye hae time to learn +to steal, Peter Peterson. Ye'll hae _your_ share in bringin' +destruction upo' this toon, and a' its belongin's. The verra kirk-yard +winna hide ye that day frae the wrath o' Him that sitteth upo' the +throne. Tak' ye tent, and repent, Peter; or it'll be the waur for ye." + +The object of this terrible denunciation of the wrath of the Almighty +was a wretched little object indeed, just like a white rabbit--with +pink eyes, a grey face and head, poor thin legs, a long tail-coat that +came nearly to his heels, an awfully ragged pair of trowsers, and a +liver charred with whisky. He had kept a whisky-shop till he had drunk +all his own whisky; and as no distiller would let him have any on +trust, he now hung about the inn-yard, and got a penny from one, and +twopence from another, for running errands.--Had they been sovereigns +they would all have gone the same way--namely, for whisky. + +He listened to Thomas with a kind of dazed meekness, his eyes wandering +everywhere except in the direction of Thomas's. One who did not know +Thomas would have thought it cowardly in him to attack such a poor +creature. But Thomas was just as ready to fly at the greatest man in +Glamerton. All the evildoers of the place feared him--the rich +manufacturer and the strong horse-doctor included. They called him a +wheezing, canting hypocrite, and would go streets out of their way to +avoid him. + +But on the present occasion he went too far with Peter. + +"And it's weel kent your dochter Bauby's no better nor she sud be; +for--" + +Peter's face flushed crimson, though where the blood could have come +from was an anatomical mystery; he held up his hands with the fingers +crooked like the claws of an animal, for the poor creature had no +notion of striking; and, dancing backwards and forwards from one foot +to the other, and grinning with set teeth in an agony of impotent rage, +cried out: + +"Tam Crann, gin ye daur to say anither word against my Bauby wi' that +foul mou' o' yours, I'll--I'll--I'll--worry ye like a mad dog-ye +ill-tongued scoonrel!" + +His Bawby had already had two children--one to the rich manufacturer, +the other to the strong horse-doctor. + +Thomas turned in silence and went away rebuked and ashamed. Next day he +sent Peter a pair of old corduroy trowsers, into either leg of which he +might have been buttoned like one of Paddy's twins. + +In the midst of this commotion of mind and speech, good Mr Cowie died. +He had taken no particular interest in what was going on, nor even in +the prophecies themselves. Ever since Annie's petition for counsel, he +had been thinking, as he had never thought before, about his own +relation to God; and had found this enough without the prophecies. Now +he had carried his thoughts into another world. While Thomas Crann was +bending his spiritual artillery upon the poor crazy tub in which +floated the earthly presence of Peter Peterson, Mr Cowie's bark was +lying stranded upon that shore whither the tide of time is slowly +drifting each of us. + +He was gently regretted by all--even by Thomas. + +"Ay! ay!" he said, with slow emphasis, 'long drawn out'; "he's gane, is +he, honest man? Weel, maybe he had the root o' the maitter in him, +although it made unco little show aboon the yird. There was sma' flower +and less fruit. But jeedgment disna belang to us, ye see, Jean, lass." + +Thomas would judge the living from morning to night; but the dead--he +would leave them alone in the better hands. + +"I'm thinkin'," he added, "he's been taen awa' frae the evil to +come--frae seein' the terrible consequences o' sic a saft way o' +dealin' wi' eternal trowth and wi' perishin' men--taen awa' like Eli, +whan he brak his neck at the ill news. For the fire and brimstane that +overthrew Sodom and Gomorrha, is, I doobt, hingin' ower this toon, +ready to fa' and smore us a'." + +"Hoot! hoot! dinna speyk sic awfu' words, Thamas, Ye're nae the prophet +Jonah, ye ken." + +"Are ye the whaul than, to swallow me and my words thegither, Jean? I +tell ye the wrath o' God _maun_ be roused against this toon, for it's +been growin' waur and waur for mony a year; till the verra lasses are +no to be lippent oot them-lanes (alone)." + +"What ken ye aboot the lasses, Thamas? Haud ye to the men. The lasses +are nae waur nor in ither pairts. I wat I can come and gang whan and +whaur I like. Never a body says a word to me." + +This was true but hardly significant; seeing Jean had one shoulder and +one eye twice the size of the others, to say nothing of various +obliquities and their compensations. But, rude as Thomas was, he was +gentleman enough to confine his reply to a snort and a silence. For had +he not chosen his housekeeper upon the strength of those personal +recommendations of the defensive importance of which she was herself +unaware? + +Except his own daughters there was no one who mourned so deeply for the +loss of Mr Cowie as Annie Anderson. She had left his church and gone to +the missionars, and there found more spiritual nourishment than Mr +Cowie's sermons could supply, but she could not forget his kisses, or +his gentle words, or his shilling, for by their means, although she did +not know it, Mr Cowie's self had given her a more confiding notion of +God, a better feeling of his tenderness, than she could have had from +all Mr Turnbull's sermons together. What equal gift could a man give? +Was it not worth bookfuls of sound doctrine? Yet the good man, not +knowing this, had often looked back to that interview, and reproached +himself bitterly that he, so long a clergyman of that parish, had no +help to give the only child who ever came to him to ask such help. So, +when he lay on his death-bed, he sent for Annie, the only soul, out of +all his pariah, over which he felt that he had any pastoral cure. + +When, with pale, tearful face, she entered his chamber, she found him +supported with pillows in his bed. He stretched out his arms to her +feebly, but held her close to his bosom, and wept. + +"I'm going to die, Annie," he said. + +"And go to heaven, sir, to the face o' God," said Annie, not sobbing, +but with the tears streaming silently down her face. + +"I don't know, Annie. I've been of no use; and I'm afraid God does not +care much for me." + +"If God loves you half as much as I do, sir, ye'll be well off in +heaven. And I'm thinkin' he maun love ye mair nor me. For, ye see, sir, +God's love itsel'." + +"I don't know, Annie. But if ever I win there, which'll be more than I +deserve, I'll tell him about you, and ask him to give you the help that +I couldn't give you." + +Love and Death make us all children.--Can Old Age be an evil thing, +which does the same? + +The old clergyman had thought himself a good Protestant at least, but +even his Protestantism was in danger now. Happily Protestantism was +nothing to him now. Nothing but God would do now. + +Annie had no answer but what lay in her tears. He called his daughter, +who stood weeping in the room. She came near. + +"Bring my study Bible," he said to her feebly. + +She went and brought it--a large quarto Bible. + +"Here, Annie," said the dying man, "here's my Bible that I've made but +ower little use o' mysel'. Promise me, if ever ye have a house o' your +own, that ye'll read out o' that book every day at worship. I want you +not to forget me, as, if all's well, I shall never forget you." + +"That _will_ I, sir," responded Annie earnestly. + +"And ye'll find a new five-pound note between the leaves. Take it, for +my sake." + +Money! Ah, well! Love can turn gold into grace. + +"Yes, sir," answered Annie, feeling this was no time for objecting to +anything. + +"And good-bye, Annie. I can't speak more." + +He drew her to him again, and kissed her for the last time. Then he +turned his face to the wall, and Annie went home weeping, with the +great Bible in her arms. + +In the inadvertence of grief, she ran into the shop. + +"What hae ye gotten there, lassie?" said Bruce, as sharply as if she +might have stolen it. + +"Mr Cowie gave me his Bible, 'cause he's dein' himsel', and doesna want +it ony langer," answered Annie. + +"Lat's luik at it." + +Annie gave it up with reluctance. + +"It's a braw buik, and bonnie buirds--though gowd an' purple maitters +little to the Bible. We'll jist lay't upo' the room-table, an' we'll +hae worship oot o' 't whan ony body's wi' 's, ye ken." + +"I want it mysel'," objected Annie, in dismay, for although she did not +think of the money at the moment, she had better reasons for not liking +to part with the book. + +"Ye can hae't when ye want it. That's eneuch, surely." + +Annie could hardly think his saying so enough, however, seeing the door +of _the room_ was kept locked, and Mrs Bruce, patient woman as she was, +would have boxed any one's ears whom she met coming from within the +sacred precincts. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LIV. + + +Before the next Sunday Mr Cowie was dead; and, through some mistake or +mismanagement, there was no one to preach. So the congregation did each +as seemed right in his own eyes; and Mrs Forbes went to the missionar +kirk in the evening to hear Mr Turnbull. Kate and Alec accompanied her. + +By this time Robert Bruce had become a great man in the +community--after his own judgment at least; for although, with a few +exceptions, the missionars yielded him the influence he sought, nobody +respected him; they only respected his money. He had managed to secure +one of the most fashionable pews in the chapel; and now when Mrs +Forbes's party entered, and a little commotion arose in consequence, +they being more of gentlefolk than the place was accustomed to +entertain, Bruce was the first to walk from his seat, and request them +to occupy his pew. Alec would have passed on, for he disliked the man, +but Mrs Forbes having reasons for being complaisant, accepted his +offer. Colds kept the rest of the Bruces at home, and Annie was the +only other occupant of the pew. She crept up to the top of it, like a +little shy mouse, to be as far out of the way as possible. + +"Come oot, Annie," said Bruce, in a loud whisper. + +Annie came out, with a warm flush over her pale face, and Mrs Forbes +entered, then Kate, and last of all, Alec, much against his will. Then +Annie re-entered, and Bruce resumed his place as Cerberus of the +pew-door. So Annie was seated next to Alec, as she had never been, in +church or chapel, or even in school, before, except on that memorable +day when they were both _kept in_ for the Shorter Catechism. But Annie +had no feeling of delight and awe like that with which Alec sat close +to his beautiful cousin. She had a feeling of pleasure, no doubt, but +the essence of the pleasure was faith. She trusted him and believed in +him as much as she had ever done. In the end, those who trust most will +find they are nearest the truth. But Annie had no philosophy, either +worldly or divine. She had only common sense, gentleness, and +faithfulness. She was very glad, though, that Alec had come to hear Mr +Turnbull, who knew the right way better than anybody else, and could +show it quite as well as Evangelist in the _Pilgrim's Progress_. + +Nor was she far wrong in her judgment of the height of Mr Turnbull's +star, calculated from the horizon of Glamerton. He was a good man who +ventured to think for himself--as far as that may be possible for one +upon whose spirit have converged, even before he was born, the +influences of a thousand theological ancestors. + +After reading the curses on Mount Ebal, he preached an eloquent sermon +from the text: + +"Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way; yet saidst thou not +'there is no hope.'" + +He showed his hearers that they had all been seeking satisfaction in +their own pursuits, in the pride of their own way; that they had been +disappointed, even to weariness; and that yet, such was their +perversity, they would not acknowledge the hopelessness of the pursuit, +and turn to that God who was ready to pardon, and in whose courts a day +would give them more delight than a thousand in the tents of +wickedness. And opening his peroration by presumptuously appropriating +the words of the Saviour, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, it shall be +more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha, in that day, than for you," the +preacher concluded with a terrible denunciation of wrath upon the +sinners who had been called and would not come. "Woe unto you, for ye +would not be warned! Woe unto you, for ye knew your Lord's will, and +yet committed things worthy of stripes! Therefore your whip shall be +one of scorpions! Woe unto you! I say; for, when the bridegroom cometh, +ye shall knock in vain at the closed door; ye shall stand without, and +listen for a brief moment to the music and dancing within--listen with +longing hearts, till the rush of coming wings overpowers the blissful +sounds, and the angels of vengeance sweep upon you, and bearing you +afar through waste regions, cast you into outer darkness, where shall +be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, to the endless ages of a +divine eternity." + +With these words the preacher burst into impassioned prayer for the +souls which he saw exposed to a hell of which he himself knew not the +horrors, else he dared not have preached it; a hell the smoke of whose +torments would arise and choke the elect themselves about the throne of +God--the hell of Exhausted Mercy. + +As long as the stream of eloquence flowed the eyes of the congregation +were fixed upon the preacher in breathless silence. When it ceased they +sank, and a sigh of exhaustion and relief arose. In that ugly building, +amidst that weary praying and inharmonious singing, with that blatant +tone, and, worse than all, that merciless doctrine, there was yet +_preaching_--that rare speech of a man to his fellow-men whereby in +their inmost hearts they know that he in his inmost heart believes. +There was hardly an indifferent countenance in all that wide space +beneath, in all those far-sloping galleries above. Every conscience +hung out the red or pale flag. + +When Alec ventured to look up, as he sat down after the prayer, he saw +the eyes of Thomas Crann, far away in the crowd, fixed on him. And he +felt their force, though not in the way Thomas intended. Thomas never +meant to dart _personal_ reproaches across the house of God; but Alec's +conscience told him nevertheless, stung by that glance, that he had +behaved ill to his old friend. Nor did this lessen the general feeling +which the sermon had awakened in his mind, un-self-conscious as it was, +that something ought to be done; that something was wrong in him +somewhere; that it ought to be set right somehow--a feeling which every +one in the pew shared, except one. His heart was so moth-eaten and +rusty, with the moths and the rust which Mammon brings with him when he +comes in to abide with a man, that there was not enough of it left to +make the terrible discovery that the rest of it was gone. Its owner did +not know that there was anything amiss with it. What power can empty, +sweep, and garnish such a heart? Or what seven devils entering in, can +make the last state of that man worse than the first? + +A special prayer-meeting having been appointed, to be held after the +sermon, Robert Bruce remained, to join in the intercession for the +wicked town and its wicked neighbourhood. He even "engaged in prayer," +for the first time in public, and astonished some of the older members +by his gift in devotion. He had been received into the church only a +week or two before, upon profession of faith in the merits of Christ, +not in Christ himself--that would not have been definite enough for +them. But it would have been all the same to Robert Bruce, for he was +ready to believe that he believed anything advantageous. + +There had been one or two murmurs against his reception, and he had +been several times visited and talked with, before the Church was +satisfied as to his conversion. But nothing was known against him +beyond the fact that "he luikit at baith sides o' a bawbee;" and having +learned many of their idioms, he had succeeded in persuading his +examiners, and had possibly persuaded himself at the same time, that he +had passed through all the phases of conversion, including conviction, +repentance, and final acceptance of offered mercy on the terms +proposed, and was now undergoing the slow and troublesome process of +sanctification; in corroboration of which he went on to produce talk, +and coppers at the chapel-door. Good people as many of those were who +thus admitted him to their communion, in the full belief that none but +conscious Christians should enjoy that privilege, his reputation for +wealth had yet something to do with it. Probably they thought that if +the gospel proved mighty in this new disciple, more of his money might +be accessible by and by for good purposes: amongst the rest, for +sending missionaries to the heathen, teaching them to divorce their +wives and wear trowsers. And now he had been asked to pray, and had +prayed with much propriety and considerable unction. To be sure Tibbie +Dyster did sniff a good deal during the performance; but then that was +a way she had of relieving her feelings, next best to that of speaking +her mind. + +When the meeting was over, Robert Bruce, Thomas Crann, and James +Johnstone, who was one of the deacons, walked away together. Very +little conversation took place between them, for no subject but a +religious one was admissible; and the religious feelings of those who +had any were pretty nearly exhausted. Bruce's, however, were not in the +least exhausted. On the contrary, he was so pleased to find that he +could pray as well as any of them, and the excitement of doing so +before judges had been so new and pleasant to him, that he thought he +should like to try it again. He thought, too, of the grand Bible lying +up there on the room-table. + +"Come in, sirs," he said, as they approached his door, "and tak' a +pairt in our faimily worship; and sae the day'll gang oot wi' prayer, +as it cam in wi' prayer. And the Lord'll maybe hae mercy upo' 's, and +no destroy the place, shops an' a', for the sins o' the +inhaibitants--them 'at sees, for them 'at 's blin'." + +Neither of his companions felt much inclined to accede to his request: +they both yielded notwithstanding. He conducted them up-stairs, +unlocked the musty room, pulled up the blinds, and admitted enough of +lingering light for the concluding devotions of the day. He then +proceeded to gather his family together, calling them one by one. + +"Mother!" he cried, from the top of the stair, meaning his wife. + +"Tea, father," answered Mrs Bruce. + +"Come to worship.--Robert!" + +"Ay, father." + +"Come to worship.--Johnnie!" + +And so he went through the family roll-call, as if it were a part of +some strange liturgy. When all had entered and seated themselves, the +head of the house went slowly to the side-table, took from it +reverentially the late minister's study Bible, sat down by the window, +laid the book on his knees, and solemnly opened it. + +Now a five-pound note is not thick enough to make a big Bible open +between the pages where it is laid; but the note might very well have +been laid in at a place where the Bible was in the habit of opening. +"Without an instant's hesitation, Robert slipped it away, and crumpling +it up in his hand, gave out the twenty-third psalm, over which it had +lain, and read it through. Finding it too short, however, for the +respectability of worship, he went on with the twenty-fourth, turning +the leaf with thumb and forefinger, while the rest of the fingers +clasped the note tight in his palm, and reading as he turned, + +"He that hath clean hands and a pure heart--" + +As soon as he had finished this psalm, he closed the book with a snap; +feeling which to have been improper, he put an additional compensating +solemnity into the tone in which he said: + +"Thomas Crann, will you engage in prayer?" + +"Pray yersel'," answered Thomas gruffly. + +Whereupon Robert rose, and, kneeling down, did pray himself. + +But Thomas, instead of leaning forward on his chair when he knelt, +glanced sharply round at Bruce. He had seen him take something from the +Bible, and crumple it up in his hand but would not have felt any +inclination to speculate about it, had it not been for the peculiarly +keen expression of eager surprise and happy greed which came over his +face in the act. Having seen that, and being always more or less +suspicious of Bruce, he wanted to know more; and was thus led into an +action of which he would not have believed it possible he should ever +be guilty. + +He saw Bruce take advantage of the posture of devotion which he had +assumed, to put something into his pocket unseen of his guests, as he +believed. + +When worship was over, Bruce did not ask them to slay to supper. +Prayers did not involve expense; supper did. But Thomas at least could +not have stayed longer. + +He left his friends and went home pondering. The devotions of the day +were not to be concluded for him with any social act of worship. He had +many anxious prayers yet to offer before his heart would be quiet in +sleep. Especially there was Alec to be prayed for, and his dawtie, +Annie; and in truth the whole town of Glamerton, and the surrounding +parishes--and Scotland, and the world. Indeed sometimes Thomas went +further, and although it is not reported of him that he ever prayed for +the devil, as that worthiest of Scotch clergymen prayed, he yet did +something very like it once or twice, when he prayed for "the haill +universe o' God, an' a' the bein's in't, up and doon, that we ken unco +little about." + + + + + + +CHAPTER LV. + + +The next morning Kate and Alec rose early, to walk before breakfast to +the top of one of the hills, through a young larch-wood which covered +it from head to foot. The morning was cool, and the sun exultant as a +good child. The dew-diamonds were flashing everywhere, none the less +lovely that they were fresh-made that morning. The lark's song was a +cantata with the sun and the wind and the larch-odours, in short, the +whole morning for the words. How the larks did sing that morning! The +only clouds were long pale delicate streaks of lovely gradations in +gray; here mottled, there swept into curves. It was just the morning to +rouse a wild longing for motion, for the sea and its shore, for endless +travel through an endless region of grace and favour, the sun rising no +higher, the dew lingering on every blade, and the lark never wearying +for his nest. Kate longed for some infinitude of change without +vicissitude--ceaseless progress towards a goal endlessly removed! She +did not know that the door into that life might have been easier to +find in that ugly chapel than even here in the vestibule of heaven. + +"My nurse used to call the lark 'Our Lady's hen,'" said Kate. + +"How pretty!" answered Alec, and had no more to say. + +"Are the people of Glamerton very wicked, Alec?" asked Kate, making +another attempt to rouse a conversation. + +"I'm sure I don't know," answered Alec. "I suppose they're no worse +than other people." + +"I thought from Mr Turnbull's sermon that they must be a great deal +worse." + +"Oh! they all preach like that--except good Mr Cowie, and he's dead." + +"Do you think he knew better than the rest of them?" + +"I don't know that. But the missionars do know something that other +people don't know. And that Mr Turnbull always speaks as if he were in +earnest." + +"Yes, he does." + +"But there's that fellow Bruce!" + +"Do you mean the man that put us into his seat?" + +"Yes. I _can't_ think what makes my mother so civil to him." + +"Why shouldn't she be?" + +"Well, you see--I can't bear him. And I can't understand my mother. +It's not like her." + +In a moment more they were in a gentle twilight of green, flashed with +streaks of gold. A forest of delicate young larches crowded them in, +their rich brown cones hanging like the knops that looped up their dark +garments fringed with paler green. + +And the scent! What a thing to _invent_--the smell of a larch wood! It +is the essence of the earth-odour, distilled in the thousand-fold +alembics of those feathery trees. And the light winds that awoke blew +murmurous music, so sharply and sweetly did that keen foliage divide +the air. + +Having gazed their fill on the morning around them, they returned to +breakfast, and after breakfast they went down to the river. They stood +on the bank, over one of the deepest pools, in the bottom of which the +pebbles glimmered brown. Kate gazed into it abstracted, fascinated, +swinging her neckerchief in her hand. Something fell into the water. + +"Oh!" she cried, "what shall I do? It was my mother's." + +The words were scarcely out of her mouth when Alec was in the water. +Bubbles rose and broke as he vanished. Kate did not scream, but stood, +pale, with parted lips, staring into the pool. With a boiling and +heaving of the water, he rose triumphant, holding up the brooch. Kate +gave a cry and threw herself on the grass. When Alec reached her, she +lay sobbing, and would not lift her head. + +"You are very unkind, Alec," she said at last, looking up. "What will +your mother say?" + +And she hid her face and began to sob afresh. + +"It was your mother's brooch," answered Alec. + +"Yes, yes; but we could have got it out somehow." + +"No other how.--I would have done that for any girl. You don't know +what I would do for _you_, Kate." + +"You shouldn't have frightened me. I had been thinking how greedy the +pool looked," said Kate, rising now, as if she dared not remain longer +beside it. + +"I didn't mean to frighten you, Kate. I never thought of it. I am +almost a water-rat." + +"And now you'll get your death of cold. Come along." + +Alec laughed. He was in no hurry to go home. But she seized his hand +and half-dragged him all the way. He had never been so happy in his +life. + +Kate had cried because he had jumped into the water! + +That night they had a walk in the moonlight. It was all moon--the air +with the mooncore in it; the trees confused into each other by the +sleep of her light; the bits of water, so many moons over again; the +flowers, all pale phantoms of flowers: the whole earth, transfused with +reflex light, was changed into a moon-ghost of its former self. They +were walking in the moon-world. + +The silence and the dimness sank into Alec's soul, and it became silent +and dim too. The only sound was the noise of the river, quenched in +that light to the sleepy hush of moon-haunted streams. + +Kate felt that she had more room now. And yet the scope of her vision +was less, for the dusk had closed in around her. + +She had ampler room because the Material had retired as behind a veil, +leaving the Immaterial less burdened, and the imagination more free to +work its will. The Spiritual is ever putting on material garments; but +in the moonlight, the Material puts on spiritual garments. + +Kate sat down at the foot of an old tree which stood alone in one of +the fields. Alec threw himself on the grass, and looked up in her face, +which was the spirit-moon shining into his world, and drowning it in +dreams.--The Arabs always call their beautiful women _moons_.--Kate sat +as silent as the moon in heaven, which rained down silence. And Alec +lay gazing at Kate, till silence gave birth to speech: + +"Oh Kate! How I love you!" he said. + +Kate started. She was frightened. Her mind had been full of gentle +thoughts. Yet she laid her hand on his arm and accepted the love.--But +how? + +"You dear boy!" she said. + +Perhaps Kate's answer was the best she could have given. But it stung +Alec to the heart, and they went home in a changed silence.--The +resolution she came to upon the way was not so good as her answer. + +She did not love Alec so. He could not understand her; she could not +look up to him. But he was only a boy, and therefore would not suffer +much. He would forget her as soon as she was out of his sight. So as he +was a very dear boy, she would be as kind to him as ever she could, for +she was going away soon. + +She did not see that Alec would either take what she gave for more than +she gave, or else turn from it as no gift at all. + +When they reached the house, Alec, recovering himself a little, +requested her to sing. She complied at once, and was foolish enough to +sing the following + + BALLAD. + + It is May, and the moon leans down all night + Over a blossomy land. + By her window sits the lady white, + With her chin upon her hand. + + "O sing to me, dear nightingale, + The song of a year ago; + I have had enough of longing and wail, + Enough of heart-break and woe. + + O glimmer on me, my apple-tree, + Like living flakes of snow; + Let odour and moonlight and melody + In the old rich harmony flow." + + The dull odours stream; the cold blossoms gleam; + And the bird will not be glad. + The dead never speak when the living dream-- + They are too weak and sad. + + She listened and sate, till night grew late, + Bound by a weary spell. + Then a face came in at the garden-gate, + And a wondrous thing befell. + + Up rose the joy as well as the love, + In the song, in the scent, in the show! + The moon grew glad in the sky above, + The blossom grew rosy below. + + The blossom and moon, the scent and the tune, + In ecstasy rise and fall. + But they had no thanks for the granted boon, + For the lady forgot them all. + +There was no light in the room except that of the shining air. Alec sat +listening, as if Kate were making and meaning the song. But +notwithstanding the enchantment of the night, all rosy in the red glow +of Alec's heart; notwithstanding that scent of gilly-flowers and +sweet-peas stealing like love through every open door and window; +notwithstanding the radiance of her own beauty, Kate was only singing a +song. It is sad to have all the love and all the mystery to +oneself--the other being the centre of the glory, and yet far beyond +its outmost ring, sitting on a music-stool at a common piano +old-fashioned and jingling, not in fairyland at all in fact, or even +believing in its presence. + +But that night the moon was in a very genial humour, and gave her light +plentiful and golden. She would even dazzle a little, if one looked at +her too hard. Sho could not dazzle Tibbie though, who was seated with +Annie on the pale green grass, with the moon about them in the air and +beneath them in the water. + +"Ye say it's a fine munelicht nicht, Annie." + +"Ay, 'deed is't. As bonnie a nicht as ever I saw." + +"Weel, it jist passes my comprehension--hoo ye can see, whan the air's +like this. I' the winter ye canna see, for it's aye cauld whan the +sun's awa; and though it's no cauld the nicht, I fin' that there's no +licht i' the air--there's a differ; it's deid-like. But the soun' o' +the water's a' the same, and the smell o' some o' the flowers is +bonnier i' the nicht nor i' the day. That's a' verra weel. But hoo ye +can see whan the sun's awa, I say again, jist passes my comprehension." + +"It's the mune, ye ken, Tibbie." + +"Weel, what's the mune? I dinna fin' 't. It mak's no impress upo' +me.--Ye _canna_ see sae weel's ye say, lass!" exclaimed Tibbie, at +length, in a triumph of incredulity and self assertion. + +"Weel, gin ye winna believe me o' yer ain free will, Tibbie, I maun +jist gar ye," said Annie. And she rose, and running into the cottage, +fetched from it a small pocket Bible. + +"Noo, ye jist hearken, Tibbie," she said, as she returned. And, opening +the Bible, she read one of Tibbie's favourite chapters, rather slowly +no doubt, but with perfect correctness. + +"Weel, lassie, I canna mak heid or tail o' 't." + +"I'll tell ye, Tibbie, what the mune aye minds me o'. The face o' God's +like the sun, as ye hae tellt me; for no man cud see him and live." + +"That's no sayin', ye ken," interposed Tibbie, "that we canna see him +efter we're deid." + +"But the mune," continued Annie, disregarding Tibbie's interruption, +"maun be like the face o' Christ, for it gies licht and ye can luik at +it notwithstandin'. The mune's jist like the sun wi' the ower-muckle +taen oot o' 't. Or like Moses wi' the veil ower's face, ye ken. The +fowk cudna luik at him till he pat the veil on." + +"Na, na, lass; that winna do; for ye ken his coontenance was as the sun +shineth in his strenth." + +"Ay, but that was efter the resurrection, ye ken. I'm thinkin' there +had been a kin' o' a veil ower his face a' the time he was upo' the +earth; and syne whan he gaed whaur there war only heavenly een to luik +at him, een that could bide it, he took it aff." + +"Weel, I wadna wonner. Maybe ye're richt. And gin ye _be_ richt, that +accounts for the Transfiguration. He jist lifted the veil aff o' 'm a +wee, and the glory aneath it lap oot wi' a leme like the lichtnin'. But +that munelicht! I can mak naething o' 't." + +"Weel, Tibbie, I canna mak you oot ony mair nor ye can the munelicht. +Whiles ye appear to ken a' thing aboot the licht, an' ither whiles +ye're clean i' the dark." + +"Never ye min' me, lass. I s' be i' the licht some day. Noo we'll gang +in to the hoose." + + + + + + +CHAPTER LVI. + + +Murdoch Malison, the schoolmaster, was appointed to preach in the +parish church the following Sunday. He had never preached there, for he +had been no favourite with Mr Cowie. Now, however, that the good man +was out of the way, they gave him a chance, and he caught at it, though +not without some misgivings. In the school-desk, "he was like a maister +or a pope;" but the pulpit--how would he fill that? Two resolutions he +came to; the first that he would not read his sermon, but _commit_ it +and deliver it as like the extempore utterance of which he was +incapable as might be--a piece of falsehood entirely understood, and +justified by Scotch custom; the second, to take rather more than a hint +from the fashion of preaching now so much in favour amongst the +seceders and missionars: he would be a _Jupiter tonans_, wielding the +forked lightnings of the law against the sins of Glamerton. + +So, on the appointed day, having put on a new suit of black, and the +gown over it, he ascended the pulpit stairs, and, conscious of a +strange timidity, gave out the psalm. He cast one furtive glance +around, as he took his seat for the singing, and saw a number of former +as well as present pupils gathered to hear him, amongst whom were the +two Truffeys, with their grandfather seated between them. He got +through the prayer very well, for he was accustomed to that kind of +thing in the school. But when he came to the sermon, he found that to +hear boys repeat their lessons and punish them for failure, did not +necessarily stimulate the master's own memory. + +He gave out his text: The Book of the Prophet Joel, first chapter, +fourth verse. Joel, first and fourth. "That which the palmer-worm hath +left, hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left, hath +the canker-worm eaten; and that which the canker-worm hath left, hath +the caterpillar eaten." + +Now if he could have read his sermon, it would have shown itself a most +creditable invention. It had a general introduction upon the temporal +punishment of sin; one head entitled, "The completeness of the +infliction;" and another, "The punishment of which this is the type;" +the latter showing that those little creeping things were not to be +compared to the great creeping thing, namely, the worm that never dies. +These two heads had a number of horns called _particulars_; and a tail +called an _application_, in which the sins of his hearers were duly +chastised, with vague and awful threats of some vengeance not confined +to the life to come, but ready to take present form in such a judgment +as that described in the text. + +But he had resolved not to read his sermon. So he began to repeat it, +with sweeps of the hands, pointings of the fingers, and other such +tricks of second-rate actors, to aid the self-delusion of his hearers +that it was a genuine present outburst from the soul of Murdoch +Malison. For they all knew as well as he did, that his sermon was only +"cauld kail het again." But some family dishes--Irish stew, for +example, or Scotch broth--may be better the second day than the first; +and where was the harm? All concerned would have been perfectly +content, if he had only gone on as he began. But, as he approached the +second head, the fear suddenly flashed through his own that he would +not be able to recall it; and that moment all the future of his sermon +was a blank. He stammered, stared, did nothing, thought nothing--only +felt himself in hell. Roused by the sight of the faces of his hearers +growing suddenly expectant at the very moment when he had nothing more +to give them, he gathered his seven fragmentary wits, and as a last +resort, to which he had had a vague regard in putting his manuscript in +his pocket, resolved to read the remainder. But in order to give the +change of mode an appearance of the natural and suitable, he managed +with a struggle to bring out the words: + +"But, my brethren, let us betake ourselves to the written testimony." + +Every one concluded he was going to quote from Scripture; but instead +of turning over the leaves of the Bible, he plunged his hand into the +abysses of his coat. Horror of horrors for the poor autocrat!--the +pocket was as empty as his own memory; in fact it was a mere typical +pocket, typical of the brains of its owner. The cold dew of agony broke +over him; he turned deadly pale; his knees smote one another; but he +made yet, for he was a man of strong will, a final frantic effort to +bring his discourse down the inclined plane of a conclusion. + +"In fine," he stammered "my beloved brethren, if you do not repent and +be converted and return to the Lord, you will--you will--you will have +a very bad harvest." + +Having uttered this solemn prediction, of the import of which he, like +some other prophets, knew nothing before he uttered it, Murdoch Malison +sat down, _a stickit minister_. His brain was a vacuum; and the thought +of standing up again to pray was intolerable. No more could he sit +there; for if he sat, the people would sit too. Something must be done, +and there was nobody to do anything. He must get out and then the +people would go home. But how could he escape? He durst not go down +that pulpit stair in the sight of the congregation.--He cared no more +for his vanished reputation. His only thought was how to get out. + +Meantime the congregation was variously affected. Some held down their +heads and laughed immoderately. These were mostly of Mr Malison's +scholars, the fine edge of whose nature, if it ever had any, had +vanished under the rasp of his tortures. Even Alec, who, with others of +the assembly, held down his head from sympathetic shame, could not help +remembering how the master had made Annie Anderson stand upon the form, +and believing for the time in a general retribution in kind. + +Andrew Truffey was crying bitterly. His sobs were heard through the +church, and some took them for the sobs of Murdoch Malison, who had +shrunk into the pulpit like a snail into its shell, so that not an atom +of his form was to be seen except from the side-galleries. The maiden +daughter of the late schoolmaster gave a shriek, and went into a small +fit; after which an awful, quite sepulchral silence reigned for a few +moments, broken only by those quivering sobs from Truffey, whom his +grandfather was feebly and ineffectually shaking. + +At length the precentor, George Macwha, who had for some time been +turning over the leaves of his psalm-book, came to the rescue. He rose +in the lectern and gave out _The hundred and fifty-first psalm_. The +congregation could only find a hundred and fifty, and took the last of +the psalms for the one meant. But George, either from old spite against +the tormentor of boys and girls, or from mere coincidence--he never +revealed which--had chosen in reality a part of the _fifty-first_ +psalm. + +"The hunner an' fifty-first psalm," repeated George, "from the fifteent +verse. An' syne we'll gang hame. + + My closed lips, O Lord, by thee, + Let them be opened." + +As soon as the singing was over, George left the desk, and the +congregation following his example, went straggling out of the church, +and home, to wait with doubtful patience for the broth which as yet +could taste only of onions and the stone that scoured the pot. + +As soon as the sounds of retiring footsteps were heard no more in the +great echoing church, uprose, like one of Dante's damned out of a +torture-tomb, the form of Murdoch Malison, above the edge of the +pulpit. With face livid as that of a corpse, he gave a scared look +around, and not seeing little Truffey concealed behind one of the +pillars, concluded the place empty, and half crawled, half tumbled down +the stair to the vestry, where the sexton was waiting him. It did not +restore his lost composure to discover, in searching for his +handkerchief, that the encumbrance of the gown had made him put his +hand ten times into the same pocket, instead of five times into each, +and that in the other his manuscript lay as safe as it had been +useless. + +But he took his gown off very quietly, put on his coat and forgot the +bands, bade the old sexton a gentle _good day_, and stole away home +through the streets. He had wanted to get out, and now he wanted to get +in; for he felt very much as Lady Godiva would have felt if her hair or +her heroism had proved unworthy of confidence. + +Poor Murdoch had no mother and no wife; he could not go home and be +comforted. Nor was he a youth, to whom a first failure might be of +small consequence. He was five and forty, and his head was sprinkled +with grey; he was schoolmaster, and everybody knew him; he had boys +under him. As he walked along the deserted streets, he felt that he was +running the gauntlet of scorn; but every one who saw him coming along +with his head sunk on his bosom, drew back from the window till he had +gone by. Returning to the window to look after him, they saw, about +twenty yards behind him, a solitary little figure, with the tears +running down its face, stumping slowly step by step, and keeping the +same distance, after the dejected master. + +When Mr Malison went into the vestry, Truffey had gone into the porch, +and there staid till he passed on his way home. Then with stealthily +set crutch, putting it down as the wild beast sets down his miching +paw, out sprang Truffey and after the master. But however silently +Truffey might use his third leg, the master heard the _stump stump_ +behind him, and felt that he was followed home every foot of the way by +the boy whom he had crippled. He felt, too, in some dim degree which +yet had practical results, that the boy was taking divine vengeance +upon him, heaping on his head the coals of that consuming fire which is +love, which is our God. And when the first shame was over, the thought +of Truffey came back with healing on his lonely heart. + +When he reached his own door, he darted in and closed it behind, as if +to shut out the whole world through which he had passed with that +burden of contempt upon his degraded shoulders. He was more ashamed of +his failure than he had been sorry for laming Truffey. But the shame +would pass; the sorrow would endure. + +Meantime two of his congregation, sisters, poor old _mutched wifies_, +were going home together. They were distantly related to the +schoolmaster, whom they regarded as the honour of the family, as their +bond of relation with the world above them in general and with the +priesthood in particular. So when Elspeth addressed Meg with reference +to the sermon in a manner which showed her determination to acknowledge +no failure, Meg took her cue directly. + +"Eh! woman; it's a sair ootluik for puir fowk like us, gin things be +gaein that gait!" + +"And 'deed it's that, lass! Gin the hairst be gaein to the moles and +the bats, it's time we war awa hame; for it'll be a cauld winter." + +"Ay, that it will! The minister was sair owercome at the prospec', +honest man. It was a' he cud do, to win at the en' o' his discoorse ohn +grutten ootricht." + +"He sees into the will o' the Almichty. He's far ben wi' Him--that's +verra clear." + +"Ay, lass, ay." + +And hence, by slow degrees, in the middle of the vague prophecies of +vengeance gathered a more definite kernel of prediction, believed by +some, disbelieved, yet feared, by others--that the harvest would be so +eaten of worms and blasted with smut, that bread would be up to famine +prices, and the poor would die of starvation. + +But still the flowers came out and looked men in the face and went in +again; and still the sun shone on the evil and on the good, and still +the rain fell on the just and on the unjust. + +And still the denunciations from the pulpits went on; but the human +souls thus exposed to the fires seemed only to harden under their +influences. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LVII. + + +Before the period of Kate's visit arrived, a letter from Professor +Fraser, to the purport that if Mrs Forbes did not mind keeping Kate a +little longer he would be greatly indebted to her, came to Alec like a +reprieve from execution. And the _little longer_ lengthened into the +late harvest of that country. + +The summer shone on, and the corn grew, green and bonnie. And Alec's +love grew with the corn; and Kate liked him better and better, but was +not a whit more inclined to fall in love with him. + +One night, after the house was quiet, Alec, finding he could not sleep, +rose and went out to play the ghost a while. It was a sultry night. +Great piles of cloud were heaped up in the heavens. The moon gleamed +and vanished by fits, looking old and troubled when she sighed herself +out of a cloud. + +"There's a storm coming," said Alec to himself; and watched and waited. +There was no wind below. The leaves of the black poplar, so ready to +tremble, hung motionless; and not a bat came startling on its unheard +skinny wing. But ere long a writhing began in the clouds overhead, and +they were twisted and torn about the moon. Then came a blinding flash, +and a roar of thunder, followed by a bellowing, as if the air were a +great dram, on which Titanic hands were beating and rolling. Then the +rain poured down, and the scent of the earth rose into the air. Alec +ran to look up at Kate's window. His heart bounded when he saw a white +figure looking out into the stormy dark. + +"Kate! Kate!" he cried, in a loud whisper, "come out--do come out. It's +so splendid!" + +She started and drew back. Presently she reappeared, and opening the +window, said, + +"Alec! do come in." + +"No, no. You come out, Kate. You don't know what it's like. You have +only to get into bed again." + +Kate hesitated. But in a moment more she withdrew. Alec saw she meant +to come, and flew round to the door. In a few minutes she glided +silently out, and fronted the black sky. The same moment another flash, +in which her spirit seemed to her to be universal, flung the darkness +aside. She could have counted the houses of Glamerton. The hills rose +up within her very soul. The Glamour shone in silver. The harvest +gleamed in green. The larch-forest hung like a cloud on the horizon. +Then the blank dark folded again its scared wings over the world; and +the trees rustled their leaves with one wavy sweep, and were still. And +again the rain came down in a tumult--warm, genial summer rain, full of +the life of lightning. Alec stood staring through the dull dark, as if +he would see Kate by the force of his will alone. The tempest in the +heavens had awaked a like tempest in his bosom: would the bosom beside +his receive his lightning and calm his pent-up storm by giving it space +to rave? His hand took hers beseechingly. Another flash came, and he +saw her face. The whole glory of the night gloomed and flashed and +flowed in that face. But alas! its response was to the stormy heaven +alone, not to the stormy human soul. As the earth answers the heaven +with lightning of her own, so Kate, herself a woman-storm, responded to +the elemental cry. + +Her shawl had fallen back, and he saw a white arm uplifted, bare to the +shoulder, gleaming through the night, and an eye flashing through the +flood that filled it. He could not mistake her passion. He knew that it +was not for him; that she was a harp played upon by the elements; yet, +passioned still more with her passion, he cried aloud, + +"Oh, Kate! if you do not love me I shall die." + +Kate started, and sought to take her hand from his, but she could not. + +"Let me go, Alec," she said, pleadingly. + +His fingers relaxed, and she sped into the house like a bird, leaving +him standing in the night. + +There was no more lightning. The rain fell heavy and persistent. The +wind rose. And when the dawn came, the clouds were drifting over the +sky; and the day was a wet gray fringy mass of wind and rain and cloud, +tossing trees, and corn hard bested. + +He rose and dragged himself away. He had thrown himself upon the grass, +and had burned there till his exhausted feelings lay like smouldering +fire under the pale ashes of the dawn. + +When Kate made her appearance at breakfast she looked bright and cold. +She had told his mother about last night, though how much he could only +guess. When he asked her whether he might not read to her, she only +said, + +"If you like." + +Whereupon he did not like. + +It was a dreary day. He crept about the house like a child in disgrace, +and the darkness seemed an age in coming. When the candles were +brought, he went to bed; and when his mother went up, she found him +asleep, but feverish. When he woke he was delirious. + +For a week there was nothing but wet and windy weather. Alec was in +bed. Kate was unhappy. Mrs Forbes was anxious. + +The corn was badly lodged. Patches lay prone, tangled, spiky, and +rough; and it was evident that if sunshine, strong, healthy sunshine, +did not soon break out, the wretched mooncalf-prediction of Murdoch +Malison would come true, for the corn, instead of ripening, would start +a fresh growth, and the harvest would be a very bad one indeed, whether +the people of Glamerton repented or not. + +But after a grievous week, that blessed sunshine did come. The corn +rose up from its low estate, looked at the sun, gathered heart, and +began to ripen diligently. + +But Alec was very ill, and did not see Kate for weeks. + +Through his wanderings--so strangely does the thousand times +o'erwritten palimpsest of the brain befool the mind and even the +passions by the redawning of old traces--he talked on about Annie and +their schooldays with Mr Malison, and never mentioned Kate. + +Annie went often to inquire after him, and Mrs Forbes behaved to her +with her old kindness--just a little diluted by anxiety and the +possession of Kate. + +When Annie thought with herself what she could do for him, she could +never think of anything except saying _sangs_ to him. But the time for +that was long gone by. So, like many other devotions, hers found no +outlet but in asking how he was. + +At length, one day, he was brought down to the dining-room and laid +upon the sofa. Then for the first time since his illness he saw Kate, +He looked in her face pitifully and kissed her hand. She put her face +down to his. The blood surged up into his cheek, and the light into his +eyes, and he murmured: + +"That is worth being ill for, Kate. I would be ill again for that." + +She could only say _hush_, and then kiss him again, lest he should be +hurt, thinking with a soundless sigh: + +"I shall be forced to marry him some day." + +And he was neither her own virgin-born ideal; nor had his presence the +power to beget another and truer ideal in her brain. + +From that day he made rapid progress. Kate would read to him for hours; +and when for love and weakness--an ill-matched pair--he could not look +in her face any more, he would yet lie and listen, till her voice +filled him with repose, and he slept in music. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LVIII. + + +On the Monday morning after his terrible failure Mr Malison felt almost +too ill to go to the school. But he knew that if he gave in he must +leave the place. And he had a good deal of that courage which enables a +man to front the inevitable, and reap, against his liking, the benefits +that spring from every fate steadfastly encountered. So he went, +keeping a calm exterior over the shame and mortification that burned +and writhed within him. He prayed the morning prayer, falteringly but +fluently; called up the Bible-class; corrected their blunders with an +effort over himself which imparted its sternness to the tone of the +correction and made him seem oblivious of his own, though in truth the +hardest task he had ever had was to find fault that Monday; in short, +did everything as usual, except bring out the _tag_. How could he +punish failure who had himself so shamefully failed in the sight of +them all? And, to the praise of Glamerton be it recorded, never had +there been a quieter day, one of less defiance of law, than that day of +the master's humiliation. In the afternoon Andrew Truffey laid a +splendid bunch of cottage-flowers on his desk, and the next morning it +was so crowded with offerings of the same sort that he had quite a +screen behind which to conceal his emotion. + +Wonderful, let me say once more, is the divine revenge! The children +would wipe away the humiliation of their tyrant. His desk, the symbol +of merciless law, the ark containing no pot of manna, only the rod that +never budded, became an altar heaped with offerings, behind which the +shamed divinity bowed his head and acknowledged a power greater than +that of stripes--overcome by his boys, who hated spelling and figures, +hated yet more the Shorter Catechism, could hardly be brought to read +the book of Leviticus with decency, and hated to make bricks without +straw; and yet, forgetting it all, loved the man beneath whose lashes +they had writhed in torture. In his heart the master vowed, with a new +love which loosed the millstone of many offences against the little +ones, that had for years been hanging about his neck--vowed that, be +the shame what it might, he would never leave them, but spend his days +in making up for the hardness of his heart and hand; vowed that he +would himself be good, and so make them good; that he would henceforth +be their friend, and let them know it. Blessed failure ending in such a +victory! Blessed purgatorial pulpit! into which he entered full of self +and self-ends; and from which he came down disgusted with that paltry +self as well as its deserved defeat. The gates of its evil fortress +were now undefended, for Pride had left them open in scorn; and Love, +in the form of flower-bearing children, rushed into the citadel. The +heart of the master was forced to yield, and the last state of that man +was better than the first. + +"Swift Summer into the Autumn flowed," and yet there was no sign of the +coming vengeance of heaven. The green corn turned pale at last before +the gaze of the sun. The life within had done its best and now shrunk +back to the earth, leaving the isolated life of its children to the +ripening of the heavens. Anxious farmers watched their fields, and +joyfully noted every shade of progress. All day the sun shone strong; +and all night the moon leaned down from heaven to see how things were +going on, and keep the work gently moving, till the sun should return +to take it up again. Before he came, a shadowy frost would just breathe +on the earth, which, although there was only death in its chill, yet +furthered the goings on of life in repelling the now useless sap, and +so helping the sun to dry the ripening ears. At length the new +revelation of ancient life was complete, and the corn stood in living +gold, and men began to put in the sickle, because the time of the +harvest was come. + +And with it came the _hairst-play_, the event of school-life both to +master and scholars. But the feelings with which the master watched and +longed for it were sadly different from those of the boys. It was +delight itself to the latter to think of having nothing to do on those +glorious hot days but gather blaeberries, or lie on the grass, or bathe +in the Glamour and dry themselves in the sun ten times a day. For the +master, he only hoped to get away from the six thousand eyes of +Glamerton. Not one allusion had been made in his hearing to his dismal +degradation, but he knew that that was only because it was too dreadful +to be alluded to. Every time he passed a woman with a baby in her arms +at a cottage door, the blind eyes in the back of his head saw her +cuddling her child, and the ears that are always hearing what never was +said, heard her hope that _he_ would never bring such disgrace upon +himself and upon her. The tone of additional kindness and consideraton +with which many addressed him, only made him think of what lay behind, +and refuse every invitation given him. But if he were once "in secret +shadow far from all men's sight," his oppressed heart would begin to +revive, and he might gather strength enough to face with calmness what +he would continue to face somehow, in the performance of his arrears of +duty to the boys and girls of Glamerton. + +Can one ever bring up arrears of duty? Can one ever make up for wrong +done? Will not heaven be an endless repentance? + +It would need a book to answer the first two of these questions. To the +last of them I answer, "Yes--but a glad repentance." + +At length the slow hour arrived. Longing thoughts had almost +obliterated the figures upon Time's dial, and made it look a hopeless +undivided circle of eternity. But at length twelve o'clock on Saturday +came; and the delight would have been almost unendurable to some, had +it not been calmed by the dreary proximity of the Sabbath lying between +them and freedom. To add to their joy, there was no catechism that day. +The prayer, although a little longer than usual, was yet over within a +minute after the hour. And almost as soon as the _Amen_ was out of the +master's mouth, the first boys were shouting jubilantly in the open +air. Truffey, who was always the last, was crutching it out after the +rest, when he heard the master's voice calling him back. He obeyed it +with misgiving--so much had fear become a habit. + +"Ask your grandfather, Andrew, if he will allow you to go down to the +seaside with me for a fortnight or three weeks," said the master. + +"Yes, sir," Truffey meant to say, but the attempt produced in reality +an unearthly screech of delight, with which he went off on a series of +bounds worthy of a kangaroo, lasting all the way to his grandfather's, +and taking him there in half the usual time. + +And the master and Truffey did go down to the sea together. The master +borrowed a gig and hired a horse and driver; and they sat all three in +the space meant for two, and their boxes went by the carrier. To happy +Truffey a lame leg or two was not to be compared with the exultant +glory of that day. Was he not the master's friend henceforth? And was +he not riding in a gig--bliss supreme? And was not the harvest around +them, the blue tent of the sun over their heads, and the sea somewhere +before them? Truffey was prouder than Mr Malison could have been if, +instead of the result of that disastrous Sunday, he had been judged to +surpass Mr Turnbull in pulpit gifts, as he did in scholastic +acquirements. And if there be as much joy in the universe, what matter +how it be divided!--whether the master be raised from the desk to the +pulpit, or Truffey have a ride in a gig! + +About this time Tibbie, sitting too late one evening upon the grass, +caught a bad cold and cough, and was for a fortnight confined to bed. +Within two days Annie became her constant companion--that is, from the +moment _the play_ commenced. + +"I tell't ye I wad hae the licht afore lang," she said the first time +Annie came to her. + +"Hoots, Tibbie! It's only an ill caud an' a host," said Annie, who from +being so much with her and Thomas had caught the modes of an elderly +woman. "Ye maunna be doonhertit." + +"Doonhertit! The lassie's haverin'! Wha daured to say that I was +doonhertit within sicht o' the New Jerusalem? Order yer words better, +lassie, or else haud yer tongue." + +"I beg yer pardon, Tibbie. It was ill-considered. But ye see hooever +willin' ye may be to gang, we're nane sae willin' to lat gang the grip +o' ye." + +"Ye'll be a hantle better withoot me, lass. Oh, my heid! And the host's +jist like to rive me in bits, as the prophets rave their claes whan the +fowk contred them ower sair to bide. Aweel! This body's nothing but a +wheen claes to my sowl; and no verra weel made either, for the holes +for my een war forgotten i' the makin'.--I'm bit jokin', lassie; for it +was the Lord's han' that made and mismade my claes; and I'm weel +willin' to wear them as lang's he likes. Jist mak a drappy o' stoorum +to me. Maybe it'll ile my thrapple a bit. I winna be lang ahin Eppie +Shawn." + +That was the woman who had occupied the other end of the cottage and +had died in the spring. + +So Annie waited on Tibbie day and night. And that year, for the first +time since she came to Glamerton, the harvest began without her. But +when Tibbie got a little better, she used to run out now and then to +see what progress the reapers were making. + +One bright forenoon Tibbie, feeling better, said to her, + +"Noo, bairn, I'm a hantle better the day, and ye maun jist rin oot and +play yersel'. Ye're but a bairn, though ye hae the wit o' a wumman. +Ye'll be laid up yersel' gin ye dinna get a stammachfu' o' the caller +air noo and than. Sae jist rin awa', an' dinna lat me see ye afore +denner-time." + +At Howglen, there happened, this year, to be a field of oats not far +from the house, the reaping of which was to begin that day. It was very +warm, and glorious with sunshine. So, after a few stooks had been set +up, Alec crawled out with the help of his mother and Kate, and lay down +on some sheaves, sheltered from the sun by a stook, and watched. The +men and women and corn leaned all one way. The oats hung their curved +heads of little pendulous bells, and gave out a low murmuring +sibilation--its only lament that its day was over, and sun and wind no +more for it. Through the high stalks gleamed now and then the lowly +corn flower, and he watched for the next blue star that would shine out +as they cut the golden cloud away. But the sun rose till the stook +could shelter him no more. First came a flickering of the shadows of +the longest heads athwart his face, and then the sun shone full upon +him. His mother and Kate had left him for a while, and, too weak or too +lazy to move, he lay with closed eyes, wishing that some one would come +to his help. Nor had he to wait long. A sudden shadow came over him. +When he looked up to find the source of the grateful relief, he could +see nothing but an apron held up in two little hands behind the +stook--hiding both the sun and the face of the helper. + +"Who's there?" he asked. + +"It's me--Annie Anderson," came from behind the un-moving apron. + +Now why would not Alec accept this attention from Annie? + +"Dinna stan' there, Annie," he said. "I dinna want it. My mother will +be here in a minute. I see her comin'." + +Annie dropped her arms, and turned away in silence. If Alec could have +seen her face, he would have been sorry that he had refused her +service. She vanished in a moment, so that Mrs Forbes and Kate never +saw her. They sat down beside him so as to shelter him, and he fell +fast asleep. When he woke, he found his head in Kate's lap, and her +parasol casting a cool green shadow over him. His mother had gone +again. Having made these discoveries, he closed his eyes, and +pretending to be still asleep, lay in a waking dream. But dreams +themselves must come to an end. Kate soon saw that his face was awake, +although his eyes were closed. + +"I think it is time we went into the house, Alec," she said. "You have +been asleep nearly an hour." + +"Happy so long, and not know it?" returned he, looking up at her from +where he lay. + +Kate blushed a little. I think she began to feel that he was not quite +a boy. But he obeyed her like a child, and they went in together. + +When Annie vanished among the stooks after the rejection of her offered +shadow, a throbbing pain at her heart kept her from returning to the +reapers. She wandered away up the field towards a little old cottage, +in which some of the farm servants resided. She knew that Thomas Crann +was at work there, and found him busy rough-casting the outside of it. + +"Ye're busy harlin', Thomas," said Annie, for the sake of saying +something. + +"Ay, jist helpin' to mak' a heepocreet," answered Thomas, with a nod +and a grim smile, as he threw a trowelful of mortar mixed with small +pebbles against the wall. + +"What mean ye by that?" rejoined Annie. + +"Gin ye kent this auld bothie as weel as I do, ye wadna need to spier +that question. It sud hae been pu'ed doon fra the riggin to the +fundation a century afore noo. And here we're pittin a clean face upo' +'t, garrin' 't luik as gin it micht stan' anither century, and nobody +had a richt to luik asclent at it." + +"It _luiks_ weel eneuch." + +"I tell't ye that I was makin' a heepocreet. There's no a sowl wants +this hoose to stan' but the mistress doon there, that doesna want to +waur the siller, and the rottans inside the wa's o' 't, that doesna +want to fa' into the cluiks o' Bawdrins and Colley--wha lie in wait for +sic like jist as the deevil does for the sowl o' the heepocreet.--Come +oot o' the sun, lassie. This auld hoose is no a'thegither a heepocreet: +it can haud the sun aff o' ye yet." + +Thomas had seen Annie holding her hand to her head, an action +occasioned partly by the heat and partly by the rebuff Alec had given +her. She stepped into the shadow beside him. + +"Isna the warl' fu' o' bonnie things cheap?" Thomas went on. "The sun's +fine and het the day. And syne whan he's mair nor we can bide, there's +lots o' shaidows lyin' aboot upo' the face o' the warl'; though they +say there's some countries whaur they're scarce, and the shaidow o' a +great rock's thought something o' in a weary lan'? But we sudna think +less o' a thing 'cause there's plenty o' 't. We hae a heap o' the +gospel, but we dinna think the less o' 't for that. Because ye see it's +no whether shaidows be dear or no that we think muckle or little o' +them, but whether we be richt het and tired whan we win till ane o' +them. It's that 'at maks the differ." + +Sorrow herself will reveal one day that she was only the beneficent +shadow of Joy. + +Will Evil ever show herself the beneficent shadow of Good? + +"Whaur got Robert Bruce that gran' Bible, Annie, do ye ken?" resumed +Thomas, after whitening his hypocrite in silence for a few moments. + +"That's my Bible, Thomas. Auld Mr Cowie gae't to me whan he was lyin' +near-han' deith." + +"Hm! hm! ay! ay! And hoo cam' 't that ye didna tak' it and pit it i' +yer ain kist?" + +"Maister Bruce tuik it and laid it i' the room as sune's I brocht it +hame." + +"Did Maister Cowie say onything to ye aboot onything that was in't, +no?" + +"Ay, did he. He spak' o' a five-poun' note that he had pitten in't. But +whan I luikit for't, I cudna fin' 't." + +"Ay! ay! Whan did ye luik for't?" + +"I forgot it for twa or three days--maybe a week." + +"Do ye min' that Sunday nicht that twa or three o' 's cam hame wi' +Bruce, and had worship wi' him an' you?" + +"Ay, weel eneuch. It was the first time he read oot o' my Bible." + +"Was't afore or efter that 'at ye luikit for the nott?" + +"It was the neist day; for the sicht o' the Bible pat it i' my min'. I +oughtna to hae thocht aboot it o' the Sawbath; but it cam' o' 'tsel'; +and I didna luik till the Mononday mornin', afore they war up. I reckon +Mr Cowie forgot to pit it in efter a'." + +"Hm! hm! Ay! ay!--Weel, ye see, riches taks to themsels wings and flees +awa'; and sae we maunna set oor herts upo' them, for it's no manner o' +use. We get nothing by 't. The warst bank that a man can lay up his +siller in is his ain hert. And I'll tell ye hoo that is. Ye ken whan +meal's laid up ower lang it breeds worms, and they eat the meal. But +they do little hairm forbye, for they're saft craters, and their teeth +canna do muckle ill to the girnell. But there's a kin' o' roost that +gathers and a kin' o' moth that breeds i' the gowd and siller whan +they're laid up i' the hert; and the roost's an awfu' thing for eatin' +awa', and the moth-craters hae teeth as hard's the siller that breeds +them; and instead o' eatin' the siller, like the meal-worms, they fa' +upo' the girnel itsel'--that's the heart; and afore lang the hert +itsel's roostit awa' wi' the roost, and riddlet through and through wi' +the moths, till it's a naisty fushionless thing, o' no use to God or +man, not even to mak' muck o'. Sic a crater's hardly worth damnin'." + +And Thomas threw trowelful after trowelful of rough-cast upon the wall, +making his hypocrite in all the composure of holy thoughts. And Annie +forgot her trouble in his presence. For Thomas was one of those whom +the prophet foresaw when he said: "And a man shall be as an +hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of +water in a dry place, as a shadow of a great rock in a weary land." I +do not mean that Thomas was felt to be such by all whom he encountered; +for his ambition was to rouse men from the sleep of sin; to set them +face to face with the terrors of Mount Sinai; to "shak' them ower the +mou' o' the pit," till they were all but choked with the fumes of the +brimstone. But he was a shelter to Annie--and to Tibbie also, although +she and he were too much of a sort to appear to the best advantage in +their intercourse. + +"Hoo's Tibbie the day?" said Thomas. + +"She's a wee bit better the day," answered Annie. + +"It's a great preevileege, lassie, and ane that ye'll hae to answer +for, to be sae muckle wi' ane o' the Lord's elec' as ye are wi' Tibbie +Dyster. She's some thrawn (twisted) whiles, but she's a good honest +woman, wha has the glory o' God sair at her hert. And she's tellt me my +duty and my sins in a mainner worthy o' Debohrah the prophetess; and I +aye set mysel' to owercome them as gin they had been the airmy o' +Sisera, wham Jael, the wife o' Heber, the Kenite, killed efter a +weel-deserved but some cooardly faushion." + +Annie did not return to the harvest-field that day. She did not want to +go near Alec again. So, after lingering a while with Thomas, she +wandered slowly across some fields of barley-stubble through which the +fresh young clover was already spreading its soft green. She then went +over the Glamour by the bridge with the three arches, down the path at +the other end, over the single great stone that crossed the dyer's dam, +and so into Tibbie's cottage. + +Had Annie been Robert Bruce's own, she would have had to mind the baby, +to do part of the house work, and, being a wise child, to attend in the +shop during meals, and so expedite the feeding-process which followed +the grace. But Robert Bruce was ignorant of how little Annie knew about +the investment of her property. He took her freedom of action for the +result of the knowledge that she paid her way, whereas Annie followed +her own impulse, and never thought about the matter. Indeed, with the +reticence of Scotch people, none of her friends had given her any +information about her little fortune. Had Bruce known this, there would +have been no work too constant for her, and no liberty too small. + +Thomas did not doubt that Robert Bruce had stolen the note. But he did +not see yet what he ought to do about it. The thing would be hard to +prove, and the man who would steal would lie. But he bitterly regretted +that such a man should have found his way into their communion. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LIX. + + +At length the corn was gathered in, all over the valley of the two +rivers. The wool of the sheep grows again after they are shorn, to keep +them warm in the winter: when the dry stubble sticks up short and +bristly over the fields, to keep them warm "He scattereth his snows +like wool." + +The master returned from the sea-coast, bringing Truffey with him, +radiant with life. Nothing could lengthen that shrunken limb, but in +the other and the crutch together he had more than the function of two. + +And the master was his idol. + +And the master was a happier man. The scene of his late failure had +begun to fade a little from his brain. The expanse of the church and +the waiting people was no longer a vision certain to arise in the +darkness that surrounds sleep. He had been loving and helping; and love +and help had turned into a great joy, whose tide washed from out his +heart the bitterness of his remembered sin. When we love truly, all +oppression of past sin will be swept away. Love is the final atonement, +of which and for which the sacrifice of the atonement was made. And +till this atonement is made in every man, sin holds its own, and God is +not all in all. + +So the earth and all that was therein did the master good. And he came +back able to look people in the face--humble still, but no longer +humiliated. And when the children gathered once more on a Monday +morning, with the sad feeling that the holidays were over, the master's +prayer was different from what it used to be, and the work was less +irksome than before, and school was not so very hateful after all. Even +the Shorter Catechism was not the instrument of torture which it had +been wont to be. The cords of the rack were not strained so tight as +heretofore. + +But the cool bright mornings, and the frosty evenings, with the pale +green sky after sundown, spoke to the heart of Alec of a coming loss. +Not that Kate had ever shown that she loved him, so that he even felt a +restless trouble in her presence which had not been favourable to his +recovery. Yet as he lay in the gloaming, and watched those crows flying +home, they seemed to be bearing something away with them on their black +wings; and as the light sank and paled on the horizon, and the stars +began to condense themselves into sparks amid the sea of green, like +those that fleet phosphorescent when the prow of the vessel troubles +the summer sea, and then the falling stars of September shot across the +darkening sky, he felt that a change was near, that for him winter was +coming before its time. And the trees saw from their high watch-tower +the white robe of winter already drifting up above the far horizon on +the wind that followed his footsteps, and knew what that wind would be +when it howled tormenting over those naked fields. So their leaves +turned yellow and gray, and the frosty red of age was fixed upon them, +and they fell, and lay. + +On one of those bright mornings, which make the head feel so clear, the +limbs so strong, and the heart so sad, the doom fell in the expected +form, that of a letter from the Professor. He was at home at last, and +wanted his niece to mix his toddy, and scold his servants for him, from +both of which enjoyments he said he desired to wean himself in time. +Alec's heart sank within him. + +"Don't go yet, Kate," he said. But he felt that she must go. + +An early day was fixed for her return; and his summer would go with +her. + +The day before her departure they were walking together along one of +the rough parish-roads leading to the hills. + +"Oh, Kate!" exclaimed Alec, all at once, in an outburst of despair, +"what _shall_ I do when you are gone? Everything will look so hateful!" + +"Oh, Alec!" rejoined Kate, in a tone of expostulation. + +"They will all look the same as if you had not gone away!--so +heartless, so selfish!" + +"But I shall see you in November again." + +"Oh, yes. You will see me. But shall I see _you_?--this very _you_? Oh, +Kate! Kate! I feel that you will be different then. You will not look +at me as you do now. You are kind to me because I have been ill. You +pity me for my white face. It is very good of you. But _won't_ you love +me, Kate? I don't deserve it. But I've read so often of beautiful women +loving men who did not deserve it. Perhaps I may be worthy of it some +day. And by that time you will have loved somebody else!" + +He turned involuntarily, and walked towards home. He recovered himself +instantly, however, and returning put his hand on Kate's arm, who was +frightened and anxious. Like a child praying to his mother, he +repeated: + +"_Won't_ you love me, Kate?--Just a little?--How can I go into that +room after you are gone--and all your things out of it? I am not good +enough ever to sleep there again. _Won't_ you love me, Kate? A little?" + +"I do love you dearly. You know that, Alec. Why do you always press me +to say more?" + +"Because I do not like the way you say it." + +"You want me to speak your way, not my own, and be a hypocrite?" + +"Kate! Kate! I understand you too well." + +They walked home in silence. + +Now, although this was sad enough for Alec, yet there was room for +hope. But she was going away, and he would not know what she was doing +or thinking. It was as if she were going to die. Nor was that +all;--for--to misuse the quotation-- + +"For, in that sleep of death, what dreams might come!" + +She might dream of some one, love some one--yes, marry some one, and so +drive him mad. + +When the last night arrived, he followed her up-stairs, and knocked at +her room door, to see her once again, and make one more appeal. Now an +appeal has only to do with justice or pity. With love it is of no use. +With love it is as unavailing as wisdom or gold or beauty. But no lover +believes this. + +There was no answer to the first, the inarticulate appeal. He lost his +courage, and dared not knock again; and while Kate was standing with +her head on one side, and her dress half off, wondering if any one had +knocked, he crept away to his bed ashamed. There was only a partition +of lath and plaster between the two, neither of whom could sleep, but +neither of whom could have given the other any comfort. Not even +another thunder-storm could have brought them together again that +night. + +At length the pitiless dawn, which _will_ come, awoke Alec, and he saw +the last few aged stars wither away as the great young star came up the +hill, the despot who, crowned with day, drives men up and abroad, be +the weather, inside or out, what it may. It was the dreariest dawn Alec +had ever known. + +Kate appeared at breakfast with indescribable signs of preparation +about her. The breakfast was dull and cheerless. The autumn sun was +brilliant. The inevitable gig appeared at the door. Alec was not even +to drive it. He could only help her into it, kiss her gloved hand on +the rail, and see her vanish behind the shrubbery. + +He then turned in stern endurance, rushed up into the very room he had +thought it impossible ever to enter again, caught up a handkerchief she +had left behind her, pressed it to his face, threw himself on her bed, +and--well, he fell fast asleep. + +He woke not so miserable as he had expected. Of this he was so much +ashamed that he tried hard to make himself more miserable, by going +over all the miseries in store for him. But his thoughts would not obey +him. They would take their own way, fly where they pleased, and alight +where they would. And the meeting in November was the most attractive +object in sight.--So easily is Hope born, when the time of her birth is +come! + +But he soon found that Grief is like some maidens: she will not come +when she is called; but if you leave her alone, she will come of +herself. Before the day was over he had sacrificed griefs enough upon +the altar of Love. All at once the whole vacant region rushed in upon +him with a ghostly sense of emptiness and desolation. He wandered about +the dreary house like a phantom about a cenotaph. The flowers having +nothing to say, because they had ceased to mean anything, looked +ashamed of themselves. The sunshine was hastening to have done with it, +and let the winter come as soon as he liked, for there was no more use +in shining like this. And Alec being in love, could feel all this, +although he had not much imagination. For the poetic element has its +share in the most common pug-faced man in creation; and when he is in +love, what of that sort there is in him, as well as what there is of +any sort of good thing, will come to the surface, as the trout do in +the balmy summer evenings. Therefore let every gentle maiden be warned +how she takes such a manifestation of what is in the man for the man +himself. It is the deepest, it is the best in him, but it may not be in +the least his own yet. It is one thing to have a mine of gold in one's +ground, know it, and work it; and another to have the mine still but +regard the story as a fable, throw the aureal hints that find their way +to the surface as playthings to the woman who herself is but a +plaything in the owner's eyes, and mock her when she takes them for +precious. In a word, every man in love shows better than he is, though, +thank God, not better than he is meant to become. + +After Kate's departure, Alec's health improved much more rapidly. Hope, +supplied by his own heart, was the sunlight in which he revived. He had +one advantage over some lovers--that he was no metaphysician. He did +not torture himself with vain attempts to hold his brain as a mirror to +his heart, that he might read his heart there. The heart is deaf and +dumb and blind, but it has more in it--more life and blessedness, more +torture and death--than any poor knowledge-machine of a brain can +understand, or even delude itself into the fancy of understanding. + +From the first, Kate's presence had not been favourable to his +recovery, irrespectively of the excitement and restlessness which it +occasioned; for she was an absorbent rather than a diffuser of life. +Her own unsatisfied nature, her excitableness, her openness to all +influences from the external world, and her incapacity for supplying +her needs in any approximate degree from inward resources; her +consequent changeableness, moodiness, and dependency--were all +unfavourable influences upon an invalid who loved her. + +The first thing he did was to superintend the painting and laying up of +his boat for the winter. It was placed across the rafters of the barn, +wrapt in tarpaulin. + +The light grew shorter and shorter. A few rough rainy days stripped the +trees of their foliage; and although the sun shone out again and made +lovely weather, + +Saint Martin's summer, halcyon days, + +it was plain to all the senses that the autumn was drawing to a close. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LX. + + +All the prophetic rumours of a bad harvest had proved themselves false. +Never a better harvest had been gathered in the strath, nor had one +ever been carried home in superior condition. But the passion for +prophecy had not abated in Glamerton. It was a spiritual epidemic over +the whole district. + +Now a certain wily pedler had turned the matter over and resolved to +make something of it. + +One day there appeared in the streets of Glamerton a man carrying in +his hand a bundle of papers as a sample of what he had in the pack upon +his shoulders. He bore a burden of wrath. They were all hymns and +ballads of a minacious description, now one and now another of which he +kept repeating in lugubrious recitative. Amongst them some of Watts's, +quite unknown to Glamerton worshippers, carried the palm of horror. But +there were others which equalled them in absurdity, although their most +ludicrous portions affected the populace only as a powerful realization +of the vague and awful. One of these had the following stanzas: + + "The dragon's tail shall be the whip + Of scorpions foretold, + With which to lash them thigh and hip + That wander from the fold. + And when their wool is burnt away-- + Their garments gay, I mean-- + Then this same whip they'll feel, I say, + Upon their naked skin." + +The probability seems to be that, besides collecting from all sources +known to him, the pedler had hired an able artist for the production of +original poems of commination. His scheme succeeded; for great was the +sale of these hymns and ballads at a halfpenny a piece in the streets +of Glamerton. Even those who bought to laugh, could not help feeling an +occasional anticipatory sting of which, being sermon-seared, they were +never conscious under pulpit denunciation. + +The pedler having emptied his wallet--not like that of Chaucer's +Pardoner, + + "Bretful of pardon brought from Rome all hot," + +but crammed with damnation brought all hot from a different +place--vanished; and another wonder appeared in the streets of +Glamerton--a man who cried with a loud voice, borrowing the cry of the +ill-tempered prophet: "Yet forty days, and Glamerton shall be +destroyed." + +This cry he repeated at awful intervals of about a minute, walking +slowly through every street, lane, and close of the town. The children +followed him in staring silence; the women gazed from their doors in +awe as he passed. The insanity which gleamed in his eyes, and his pale +long-drawn countenance, heightened the effect of the terrible +prediction. His belief took theirs by storm. + +The men smiled to each other, but could not keep it up in the presence +of their wives and sisters. They said truly that he was only a madman. +But as prophets have always been taken for madmen, so madmen often pass +for prophets; and even Stumpin' Steenie, the town-constable, had too +much respect either to his prophetic claims, or his lunacy, perhaps +both, to take him into custody. So through the streets of Glamerton he +went on his bare feet, with tattered garments, proclaiming aloud the +coming destruction, He walked in the middle of the street, and turned +aside for nothing. The coachman of the Royal Mail had to pull up his +four greys on their haunches to keep them off the defiant prophet, and +leave him to pursue the straight line of his mission. The ministers +warned the people on the following Sunday against false prophets, but +did not say that man was a false prophet, while with their own +denunciations they went on all the same. The chief effects of it all +were excitement and fear. There was little sign of repentance. But the +spiritual physicians did not therefore doubt their exhibition. They +only increased the dose. The prophet appeared one day. He had vanished +the next. + +But within a few days, a still more awful prediction rose, cloud-like, +on the spiritual sky. A placard was found affixed to the doors of every +place of worship in the town, setting forth in large letters that, +according to certain irrefragable calculations from "the number of a +man" and other such of the more definite utterances of Daniel and St +John, the day of judgment must without fail fall upon the next Sunday +week. Whence this announcement came no one knew. But the truth is, +every one was willing it should remain shrouded in the mystery +congenial to such things. On the door of the parish-church, it found an +especially suitable place; for that, not having been painted for many +years, still retained the mourning into which it had been put on +occasion of the death of the great man of the neighbourhood, the owner +of all Glamerton, and miles around it--this mourning consisting of a +ground of dingy black, over which at small regular distances had been +painted a multitude of white spots with tails, rather more like commas +than tadpoles, intended to represent the falling tears of lamenting +tenants and humble servants generally. Curly's grandfather had been the +artist of the occasion. In the middle of this door stood the awful +prophecy, surrounded on every side by the fall of the faded tears; and +for anything anybody knew, it might have been a supernatural exudation +from the damp old church, full of decay for many a dreary winter. +Dreadful places, those churches, hollow and echoing all the week! I +wonder if the souls of idle parsons are condemned to haunt them, and +that is what gives them that musty odour and that exhausting air. + +Glamerton was variously affected by this condensation of the vapour of +prophecy into a definite prediction. + +"What think ye o' 't, Thomas Crann?" said Andrew Constable. "The +calcleation seems to be a' correck. Yet somehoo I canna believe in't." + +"Dinna fash yer heid aboot it, Anerew. There's a heep o' judgments +atween this an' the hinner en'. The Lord'll come whan naebody's luikin' +for him. And sae we maun be aye ready. Ilka year's an anno dominy. But +I dinna think the man that made that calcleation as ye ca' 't 's jist +a'thegeether infallible. An' for ae thing, he's forgotten to mak' +allooance for the laip years." + +"The day's by, than!" exclaimed Andrew, in a tone contrasting pretty +strongly with his previous expressions of unbelief. + +"Or else it's nae comin' sae sune as the prophet thocht. I'm no clear +at this moment aboot that. But it's a sma' maitter that." + +Andrew's face fell, and he looked thoughtful. + +"Hoo mak' ye that oot?" said he. + +"Hoots man!" answered Thomas; "dinna ye see 'at gin the man was +cawpable o' makin' sic a mistak's that, i' the mids o' his perfec +confidence in his ain knowledge an' jeedgment, he cud hardly hae been +intendit by Providence for an interpreter o' dark sayings of old?" + +Andrew burst into a laugh. + +"Wha cud hae thocht, Thomas, 'at ye cud hae pickit sic gumption oot o' +stanes!" + +And so they parted, Andrew laughing, and Thomas with a curious smile. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXI. + + +Towards the middle of the following week the sky grew gloomy, and a +thick small incessant rain brought the dreariest weather in the world. +There was no wind, and miles of mist were gathered in the air. After a +day or two the heavens grew lighter, but the rain fell as steadily as +before, and in heavier drops. Still there was little rise in either the +Glamour or the Wan Water, and the weather could not be said to be +anything but seasonable. + +On the Saturday afternoon, weary of some poor attempts at Greek and +Latin, weary of the wretched rain, and weary with wishing to be with +Kate, Alec could stay in the house no longer, and went out for a walk. +Along the bank of the river he wandered, through the rain above and the +wet grass below, to the high road, stood for a moment on the bridge +gazing at the muddy Glamour, which came down bank-full,--Annie saw him +from Tibbie's window as he stood,--and then turned and followed its +course below the bridge through a wild, and now dismal country, to +where the waters met. It was getting dusk when he reached the place. +With what a roar the Wan Water came down its rocks, rushing from its +steeper course into the slow incline of the Glamour! A terrible country +they came from--those two ocean-bound rivers--up among the hill-tops. +There on the desolate peat-mosses, spongy, black, and cold, the rain +was pouring into the awful holes whence generations had dug their fuel, +and into the natural chasms of the earth, soaking the soil, and sending +torrents, like the flaxen hair of a Titanic Naiad, rolling into the +bosom of the rising river-god below. The mist hung there, darkening +everything with its whiteness, ever sinking in slow fall upon the +slippery peat and the heather and the gray old stones. By and by the +pools would be filled, and the hidden caves; their sides would give +way; the waters would rush from the one into the other, and from all +down the hill-sides, and the earth-sponge would be drained off. + +"Gin this hauds, we'll hae a spate," said Alec to himself, when he saw +how the waters met, flooding the _invers_, and beginning to invade the +trees upon the steep banks below. The scene was in harmony with his +feelings. The delight of the sweeping waters entered his soul, and +filled him with joy and strength. As he took his way back through the +stunted trees, each swathed in its own mist, and dripping as if it were +a separate rain-cloud; and through the bushes that wetted him like +pools; and through the streams that poured down the steep bank into the +Glamour; he thought how different it was when he walked there with +Kate, when the sun was bright, and the trees were covered with green, +and the heather was in patches of blossom, and the river went +clear-hearted and singing over its stony channel below. But he would +rather have it thus, now that Kate was gone. + +The floods then were slower in rising, and rose to a much greater +height than now. In the present day, the numerous drains provide a +rapid and steady escape, so that there is no accumulation of waters, +and no bursting of the walls of natural or accidental reservoirs. And I +presume that from slow changes produced in the climate by cultivation, +there may be a less fall of water now than there used to be; for in +some parts of that country the rivers have, within the memory of +middle-aged men, considerably decreased in volume. + +That evening, in the schoolmaster's lodgings. Truffey sat at the +tea-table triumphant. The master had been so pleased with an exercise +which he had written for him--written in verse too--that he had taken +the boy home to tea with him, dried him well at his fire, and given him +as much buttered toast as he could eat. Truffey had often had a like +privilege, but never for an ovation, as now. How he loved the master! + +"Truffey," said Mr Malison, after a long pause, during which he had +been staring into the fire, "how's your leg?" + +"Quite weel, thank ye, sir," answered Truffey, unconsciously putting +out the foot of the wrong leg on the fender. "There wasna onything the +maitter wi' 't." + +"I mean the other leg, Truffey--the one that I--that I--hurt." + +"Perfectly weel, sir. It's no worth speirin' efter. I wonner that ye +tak sic pains wi' me, sir, whan I was sic a nickum." + +The master could not reply. But he was more grateful for Truffey's +generous forgiveness than he would have been for the richest living in +Scotland. Such forgiveness is just giving us back ourselves--clean and +happy. And for what gift can we be more grateful? He vowed over again +to do all he could for Truffey. Perhaps a sticket minister might have a +hand in making a minister that would not stick. + +Then the master read Truffey's queer composition aloud, and +notwithstanding all his conscientious criticism, Truffey was delighted +with his own work when removed to an objective distance by the master's +reading. At length Mr Malison said: + +"It's time to go home, Andrew Truffey. Put on my cloak--there. And keep +out of the puddles as much as you can." + +"I'll pit the sma' fit in," said Truffey, holding up the end of his +crutch, as he stretched it forward to make one bound out of the door. +For he delighted in showing off his agility to the master. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXII. + + +When Alec looked out of his window the next morning, he saw a broad +yellow expanse below. The Glamour was rolling, a mighty river, through +the land. A wild waste foamy water, looking cold and torn and troubled, +it swept along the fields where late the corn had bowed to the autumn +winds. But he had often seen it as high. And all the corn was safe in +the yard. + +Neither he nor his mother regretted much that they could not go to +church. Mrs Forbes sat by the fire and read Hannah More's _Christian +Morals_, and Alec sat by the window reading James Montgomery's _World +before the Flood_, and watching the river, and the splashing of the +rain in the pluvial lake, for the water was nearly a foot deep around +the house, although it stood upon a knoll of gravel. + +All night Tibbie Dyster had lain awake in her lonely cottage, listening +to the quiet heavy _go_ of the water from which all the sweet babbling +sounds and delicate music-tones had departed. The articulation of the +river-god was choked in the weight and hurry of its course to the +expectant sea. Tibbie was still far from well, had had many relapses, +and was more than ever convinced that the Lord was going to let her see +his face. + +Annie would have staid with her that Saturday night, as she not +unfrequently did, had she not known that Mrs Bruce would make it a +pretext for giving her no change of linen for another week. + +The moment Bruce entered the chapel--for no weather deprived him of his +Sabbath privileges--Annie, who had been his companion so far, darted +off to see Tibbie. When Bruce found that she had not followed him, he +hurried to the door, but only to see her halfway down the street. He +returned in anger to his pew, which he was ashamed of showing thus +empty to the eyes of his brethren. But there were many pews in like +condition that morning. + +The rain having moderated a little in the afternoon, the chapel was +crowded in the evening. Mrs Bruce was the only one of the Bruce-family +absent. The faces of the congregation wore an expectant look, for they +knew Mr Turnbull would _improve the occasion_: he always sought +collateral aid to the influences of the truth, and sometimes attempted +to suborn Nature herself to give effect to his persuasions. The text he +had chosen was: "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming +of the Son of Man be." He made no allusion to the paper which the rain +was busy washing off the door of the chapel; nor did he wish to remind +the people that this was the very day foreseen by the bill-sticking +prophet, as appointed for the advent of judgment. But when, in the +middle of the sermon, a flash of lightning seemed to extinguish the +array of candles, and was followed by an instant explosion of thunder, +and a burst of rain, as if a waterspout had broken over their heads, +coming down on the roof like the trampling of horses and the noise of +chariot-wheels, the general start and pallor of the congregation showed +that they had not forgotten the prediction. This then was the way in +which judgment was going to be executed: a second flood was about to +sweep them from the earth. So, although all stared at the minister as +if they drank in every word of his representation of Noah's flood, with +its despairing cries, floating carcases, and lingering deaths on the +mountain-tops as the water crept slowly up from peak to peak, yet they +were much too frightened at the little flood in the valley of two +rivers, to care for the terrors of the great deluge of the world, in +which, according to Mr Turnbull, eighty thousand millions of the sons +and daughters of men perished, or to heed the practical application +which he made of his subject. For once the contingent of nature was too +powerful for the ends of the preacher. + +When the service was over, they rushed out of the chapel. + +Robert Bruce was the first to step from the threshold up to the ankles +in water. The rain was falling--not in drops, but in little streams. + +"The Lord preserve 's!" he exclaimed. "It's risen a fit (foot) upo' +Glamerton a'ready. And there's that sugar i' the cellar! Bairns, rin +hame yer lanes. I canna bide for ye." + +And he was starting off at the top of his speed. + +"Hoots! man," cried Thomas Crann, who came behind him, "ye're sae sair +ta'en up wi' the warl, 'at ye hae nae room for ordinar' common sense. +Ye're only stannin' up to the mou's o' yer shune i' the hole 'at ye +unnertook yersel' to fill up wi' the lime 'at was ower efter ye had +turned yer dry stane dyke intil a byre-wa'." + +Robert stepped out of the hole and held his tongue. At that moment, +Annie was slipping past him to run back to Tibbie. He made a pounce +upon her and grabbed her by the shoulder. + +"Nae mair o' this, Annie!" he said. "Come hame for cowmon dacency, and +dinna gang stravaguin' in a nicht like this, naebody kens whaur." + +"A' body kens whaur," returned Annie. "I'm only gaun to sleep wi' +Tibbie Dyster, puir blin' body!" + +"Lat the blin' sleep wi' the blin', an' come ye hame wi' me," said +Robert oracularly, abusing several texts of Scripture in a breath, and +pulling Annie away with him. "Ye'll be drooned afore the mornin' in +some hole or ither, ye fashous rintheroot! And syne wha'll hae the wyte +o' 't?" + +Heartily vexed and disappointed, Annie made no resistance, for she felt +it would be uncomely. And how the rain did pour as they went home! They +were all wet to the skin in a moment except Mr Bruce, who had a big +umbrella, and reasoned with himself that his Sabbath clothes were more +expensive than those of the children. + +The best way certainly was to send the wet ones to bed as soon as they +got home. But how could Annie go to bed when Tibbie was lying awake +listening for her footsteps, and hearing only the sounds of the rising +water? She made up her mind what to do. Instead of going into her room, +she kept listening on the landing for the cessation of footsteps. The +rain poured down on the roof with such a noise, and rushed so fiercely +along the spouts, that she found it difficult to be sure. There was no +use in changing her clothes only to get them wet again, and it was well +for her that the evening was warm. But at length she was satisfied that +her gaolers were at supper, whereupon she stole out of the house as +quietly as a kitten, and was out of sight of it as quickly. Not a +creature was to be seen. The gutters were all choked and the streets +had become river-beds, already torn with the rush of the ephemeral +torrents. But through it all she dashed fearlessly, bounding on to +Tibbie's cottage. + +"Eh, preserve's! sic a nicht, Peter Whaup!" said Peter's wife to Peter +as he sat by the fire with his cutty in his teeth. "It'll be an awfu' +spate." + +"Ay will't," rejoined Peter. "There's mair water nor whusky already. +Jist rax doon the bottle, gudewife. It tak's a hantle to quawlifee sic +weet's this. Tak' a drappy yersel', 'oman, to haud it oot." + +"Ye hae had plenty, Peter. _I_ dinna want nane. Ye're a true smith, +man: ye hae aye a spark i' yer throat." + +"Toots! There never was sic a storm o' water sin' the ark o' the +covenant--" + +"Ye mean Noah's ark, Peter, man." + +"Weel, weel! onything ye like. It's a' the same, ye ken. I was only +jist remarkin' that we haena sic a fa' o' rain ilka day, an' we sud +jist haud the day in min', pay 't respec' like, keep it wi' a tumler, +ye ken--cummummerate it, as they ca' 't. Rax doon the bottle, lass, and +I'll jist gie a luik oot an' see whether the water's likely to come in +ower the door-sill; for gin it ance crosses the thrashol', I doot there +wonno be whusky eneuch i' the hoose, and bein' the Sawbath nicht, we +canna weel win at ony mair." + +Thus entreated, Mistress Whaup got the bottle down. She knew her +husband must have whisky, and, like a wise woman, got him to take as +large a proportion of the immitigable quantity as possible at home. +Peter went to the door to reconnoitre. + +"Guid guide 's!" he cried; "there's a lassie run by like a maukin +(hare), wi' a splash at ilka fit like a wauk-mill. An' I do believe it +was Annie Anderson. Will she be rinnin' for the howdie (midwife) to +Mistress Bruce? The cratur'll be droont. I'll jist rin efter her." + +"An' be droont yersel, Peter Whaup! She's a wise lass, an' can tak care +o' hersel. Lat ye her rin." + +But Peter hesitated. + +"The water's bilin'," cried Mrs Whaup. + +And Peter hesitated no longer. + +Nor indeed could he have overtaken Annie if he had tried. Before +Peter's tumbler was mixed she was standing on the stone across the +dyer's _dam_, looking down into the water which had risen far up the +perpendicular sides of its rocky conduit. Across the stone the water +from the street above was pouring into the Glamour. + +"Tibbie," she said, as she entered the cottage, "I doobt there's gaun +to be a terrible spate." + +"Lot it come," cried Tibbie. "The bit hoosie's fund't upon a rock, and +the rains may fa', and the wins may blaw, and the floods may ca at the +hoosie, but it winna fa', it canna fa', for it's fund't upo' a rock." + +Perhaps Tibbie's mind was wandering a little, for when Annie entered, +she found her face flushed, and her hands moving restlessly. But what +with this assurance of her confidence, and the pleasure of being with +her again, Annie thought no more about the waters of the Glamour. + +"What keepit ye sae lang, lassie?" said Tibbie wearily after a moment's +silence, during which Annie had been redisposing the peats to get some +light from the fire. + +She told her the whole story. + +"And hae ye had nae supper?" + +"Na. But I dinna want ony." + +"Pit aff yer weet claes than, and come to yer bed." + +Annie crept into the bed beside her--not dry even then, for she was +forced to retain her last garment. Tibbie was restless, and kept +moaning, so that neither of them could sleep. And the water kept +sweeping on faster, and rising higher up the rocky mound on which the +cottage stood. The old woman and the young girl lay within and listened +fearless. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXIII. + + +Alec too lay awake and listened to the untiring rain. Weary of the +house, he had made use of the missionar kirk to get out of it, and had +been one of Mr Turnbull's congregation that night. Partly because his +mind was unoccupied by any fear from without, for he only laughed at +the prophecy, something in that sermon touched him deeper than any one +else in the place perhaps, awoke some old feelings of responsibility +that had been slumbering for a long time, and made him reflect upon an +unquestioned article of his creed--the eternal loss and misery and +torture of the soul that did not repent and believe. At the same time, +what repentance and belief really meant--what he had to do first--he +did not know. All he seemed to know was that he was at that moment in +imminent danger of eternal damnation. And he lay thinking about this +while the rain kept pouring upon the roof out of the thick night +overhead, and the Glamour kept sweeping by through the darkness to the +sea. He grew troubled, and when at last he fell asleep, he dreamed +frightfully. + +When he woke, it was a dull morning, full of mist and rain. His dreams +had fled even from his memory, but had left a sense of grievous +discomfort. He rose and looked out of the window. The Glamour spread +out and rushed on like the torrent of a sea forsaking its old bed. Down +its course swept many dark objects, which he was too far off to +distinguish. He dressed himself, and went down to its edge--not its +bank: that lay far within and far beneath its torrent. The water, +outspread where it ought not to be, seemed to separate him from the +opposite country by an impassable gulf of space, a visible +infinitude--a vague marvel of waters. Past him swept trees torn up by +the roots. Down below, where he could not see, stones were rolling +along the channel. On the surface, sheaves and trees went floating by. +Then a cart with a drowned horse between the shafts, heaved past in the +central roll of the water. Next came something he could not understand +at first. It was a great water-wheel. This made him think of the mill, +and he hurried off to see what the miller was doing. + +Truffey went stumping through the rain and the streams to the morning +school. Gladly would he have waited on the bridge, which he had to +cross on his way, to look at the water instead. But the master would be +there, and Truffey would not be absent. When Mr Malison came, Truffey +was standing in the rain waiting for him. Not another boy was there. He +sent him home. And Truffey went back to the bridge over the Glamour, +and there stood watching the awful river. + +Mr Malison sped away westward towards the Wan Water. On his way he +found many groups of the inhabitants going in the same direction. The +bed of the Wan Water was here considerably higher than that of the +Glamour, although by a rapid descent it reached the same level a couple +of miles below the town. But its waters had never, to the knowledge of +any of the inhabitants, risen so high as to surmount the ridge on the +other slope of which the town was built. Consequently they had never +invaded the streets. But now people said the Wan Water would be down +upon them in the course of an hour or two, when Glamerton would be in +the heart of a torrent, for the two rivers would be one. So instead of +going to school, all the boys had gone to look, and the master followed +them. Nor was the fear without foundation; for the stream was still +rising, and a foot more would overtop the ground between it and the +Glamour. + +But while the excited crowd of his townsmen stood in the middle of a +stubble-field, watching the progress of the enemy at their feet, Robert +Bruce was busy in his cellar preparing for its reception. He could not +move his cask of sugar without help, and there was none of that to be +had. Therefore he was now, in his shirt-sleeves, carrying the sugar up +the cellar-stairs in the coal-scuttle, while Mrs Bruce, in a condition +very unfit for such efforts, went toiling behind him with the +_meal-bossie_ filled far beyond the brim. As soon as he had finished +his task, he hurried off to join the watchers of the water. + +James Johnstone's workshop was not far from the Glamour. When he went +into it that morning, he found the treadles under water, and thought he +had better give himself _the play_. + +"I'll jist tak a daun'er (stroll) doon to the brig to see the spate +gang by," he said to himself, and, putting on his grandfather's hat, +went out into the rain. + +As he came near the bridge, he saw cripple Truffey leaning over the +parapet with horror-stricken looks. The next moment he bounded to his +one foot and his crutch, and _spanged_ over the bridge as if he had +been gifted with six legs. + +When James reached the parapet, he could see nothing to account for the +terror and eagerness in Truffey's pale face, nor for his precipitate +flight. But being short-sighted and inquisitive, he set off after +Truffey as fast as the dignity proper to an elderly weaver and a deacon +of the missionars would permit. + +As Alec came near the mill he saw two men standing together on the +verge of the brown torrent which separated them from it. They were the +miller--the same whose millstone Curly had broken by shutting down the +sluice--and Thomas Crann, the latest architect employed about the +building. Thomas had been up all night, wandering hither and thither +along the shore of the Wan Water, sorely troubled about Glamerton and +its careless people. Towards morning he had found himself in the town +again, and, crossing the Glamour, had wandered up the side of the +water, and so come upon the sleepless miller contemplating his mill in +the embrace of the torrent. + +"Ye maun alloo it's _hard_, Thamas," said the miller. + +"_Hard_?" retorted Thomas with indignation. "Hoo daur ye say sic a +thing! Here hae ye been stickin' yer bit water-wheel i' the mids o' ane +o' the Lord's burns, and the Lord has ca'd it roon and roon for you and +yer forbears aboon a hunner yer, and ye've grun' yer breid oot o' 't, +and the breid o' yer bairns, and noo whan it's i' the Lord's gait, and +he maun hae mair room to sen' doon the waters frae his hills, ye +grummle an' compleen at the spate that's been foreordeen't frae the +verra black mirk o' eternity. What wad ye think o' a bairn gaein' +compleenin' o' you 'cause your backwater had ta'en awa' his wheelie o' +rashes, whaur it was whurlin' bonnie afore ye liftit the sluice?" + +Thomas's zeal had exposed him to the discomfiture of those who, if they +do not actually tell lies for God, yet use very bad arguments for him. +The miller rejoined: + +"You or me, Thomas, wad see bairnie an' wheelie alike safe, afore we +liftit the sluice. The Lord _micht_ hae managed ohn ta'en awa' my +mull." + +"Yer mull's nae doon the water yet, Simon. It's in some extremity, I +confess; but whether it's to be life or deith, none kens but ane. Gang +hame, man, and gang doon upo' yer knees, and pray." + +"Pray to God aboot an auld meal-mull?" said Simon with indignation. +"'Deed, I winna be sae ill-bred." + +And so saying, he turned and went home, leaving Thomas muttering-- + +"Gin a body wad pray aboot onything, they micht, maybe, tak' a likin' +till 't. A prayer may do a body guid whan it's no jist o' the kin' to +be a'thegither acceptable to the min' o' the Almichty. But I doobt his +ear's gleg for ony prayer that gangs up his gait." + +The last two sentences were spoken aloud as he shook hands with Alec, +of whose presence he had been aware from the first, although he had +taken no notice of his arrival. + +Before another word was uttered, their attention was attracted by a +large mass floating down the river. + +"What's that, Thomas?" said Alec. "I houp it winna tak' awa' the brig." + +He meant the wooden bridge a few hundred yards below them, which, +inaccessible from either side, was now very little above the level of +the water. + +"It's jist the riggin' o' some cottar's bit hoosie," answered Thomas. +"What's come o' them that was aneath it, the Lord only kens. The +water's jist liftit the roof bodily. There it gangs--throu' aneath the +brig.--The brig's doon. It's no doon.--It's stan'in' yet.--But the puir +fowk, Alec!--Eh, gin they warna preparet! Think o' that, Alec." + +"I houp they wan oot," answered Alec. + +"Houps are feckless things, Alec," returned Thomas, censoriously. + +But the talk was turned into another channel by the appearance--a few +ridges off--for they were standing in a field--of Truffey, who, with +frantic efforts to get on, made but little speed, so deep did his +crutch sink in the soaked earth. He had to pull it out at every step, +and seemed mad in his foiled anxiety to reach them. He tried to shout, +but nothing was heard beyond a crow like that of a hoarse chicken. Alec +started off to meet him, but just as he reached him his crutch broke in +the earth, and he fell and lay unable to speak a word. With slow and +ponderous arrival, Thomas Crann came up. + +"Annie Anderson!" panted out Truffey at length. + +"What aboot _her_?" said both in alarm. + +"Tibbie Dyster!" sobbed Truffey in reply. + +"Here's Jeames Johnstone!" said Thomas; "he'll tell's a' aboot it." + +He surmised the facts, but waited in painful expectation of assurance +from the deacon, who came slipping and sliding along the wet ridges. + +"What's this?" he cried fiercely, as James came within hearing. + +"What is't?" returned the weaver eagerly. + +If Thomas had been a swearing man, what a terrible oath he would have +sworn in the wrath which this response of the weaver roused in his +apprehensive soul! But Truffey was again trying to speak, and with a + +"Be ashamed o' yersel', Jeames Johnstone," the mason bent his ear to +listen. + +"They'll be droont. They'll be taen awa. They canna win oot." + +Thomas and Alec turned and stared at each other. + +"The boat!" gasped Thomas. + +Alec made no reply. That was a terrible water to look at. And the boat +was small. + +"Can ye guide it, Alec?" said Thomas, his voice trembling, and the +muscles of his face working. + +The terrors of the night had returned upon Alec. Would the boat live? +Was there more than a chance? And if she went down, was he not damned +for ever? He made no reply. He was afraid. + +"Alec!" shouted Thomas, in a voice that might have been heard across +the roar of the Glamour, "Will ye lat the women droon?" + +"Thomas," answered Alec, meekly, trembling from head to foot, "gin I +gang to the boddom, I gang to hell." + +"Better be damned, doin' the will o' God, than saved doin' noathing!" +said Thomas. + +The blood shot into Alec's face. He turned and ran. + +"Thomas," said James Johnstone, with shy interposition, laying his +forefinger upon the stonemason's broad chest, "hae ye considered what +ye're drivin' the young man till?" + +"Ay, weel eneuch, Jeames Johnstone. Ye're ane o' thae mealy-mou'd +frien's that like a man sae wel they wad raither hae him gang wi' his +back to the pleuch, nor ca't i' the face o' a cauld win'. I wad raither +see my frein' hangt nor see him deserve hangin'. Haud awa' wi' ye. Gin +he disna gang, I'll gang mysel', an' I never was in a boat i' my life." + +"Come awa, Thomas," cried Alec, already across three or four ridges; "I +canna carry her my lane." + +Thomas followed as fast as he could, but before he reached the barn, he +met Alec and one of the farm-servants, with the boat on their +shoulders. + +It was a short way to the water. They had her afloat in a few minutes, +below the footbridge. At the edge the water was as still as a pond. + +Alec seized the oars, and the men shoved him off. + +"Pray, Alec," shouted Thomas. + +"I haena time. Pray yersel'," shouted Alec in reply, and gave a stroke +that shot him far towards the current. Before he reached it, he shifted +his seat, and sat facing the bows. There was little need for pulling, +nor was there much fear of being overtaken by any floating mass, while +there was great necessity for looking out ahead. The moment Thomas saw +the boat laid hold of by the current, he turned his back to the +Glamour, fell upon his knees in the grass, and cried in an agony: + +"Lord, let not the curse o' the widow and the childless be upo' me, +Thomas Crann." + +Thereafter he was silent. + +Johnstone and the farm-lad ran down the river-side. Truffey had started +for the bridge again, having tied up his crutch with a string. Thomas +remained kneeling, with his arms stretched out as stiff as the poles of +a scaffold, and the joints of his clasped fingers buried in the roots +of the grass. The stone piers of the wooden bridge fell into the water +with a rush, but he never heard it. The bridge floated past him bodily, +but his back was towards it. Like a wretch in sanctuary, he dared not +leave "the footstool of grace," or expose himself to the inroads of the +visible world around him, by opening his eyes. + +Alec did not find it so hard as he had expected to keep his boat from +capsizing. But the rapidity with which the banks swept past him was +frightful. The cottage lay on the other side of the Glamour, lower +down, and all that he had to do for a while, was to keep the bows of +his boat down the stream. When he approached the cottage, he drew a +little out of the centre of the current, which, confined within rising +ground, was here fiercer than anywhere above. But out of the current he +could not go; for the cottage lay between the channel of the river and +the mill-race. Except for its relation, however, to the bridge behind +it, which he saw crowded with anxious spectators, he would not have +known where it ought to be--so much was the aspect of everything +altered. He could see that the water was more than half way up the +door, right at which he had resolved to send his boat. He was doubtful +whether the doorway was wide enough to let it through, but he saw no +other way of doing. He hoped his momentum would be sufficient to force +the door open, or, better still, to carry away the posts, and give him +more room. If he failed no doubt the boat would be in danger, but he +would not make any further resolutions, till action, becoming absolute, +should reveal the nature of its own necessity. As he drew near his +mark, therefore, he resumed the seat of a rower, kept taking good aim +at the door, gave a few vigorous pulls, and unshipping his oars, bent +his head forward from the shock. Bang went the _Bonnie Annie_; away +went door and posts; and the lintel came down on Alec's shoulders. + +But I will now tell how the night had passed with Tibbie and Annie. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXIV. + + +Tibbie's moaning grew gentler and less frequent, and both fell into a +troubled slumber. From this Annie awoke at the sound of Tibbie's voice. +She was talking in her dream. + +"Dinna wauk him," she said; "dinna wauk him; he's fell (Germ. viel) +tired and sleepy. Lat the win' blaw, lads. Do ye think He canna see +whan his een are steekit. Gin the watter meddle wi' you, He'll sune lat +it ken it's i' the wrang. Ye'll see 't cowerin' at 's feet like a +colley-dog. I'll jist dight the weet aff o' my Lord's face.--Weel, wauk +him gin ye will. _I_ wad raither gang to the boddom mysel'." + +A pause followed. It was clear that she was in a dream-boat, with Jesus +in the hinder part asleep upon a pillow. The sounds of the water +outside had stolen through her ears and made a picture in her brain. +Suddenly she cried out: + +"I tellt ye sae! I tellt ye sae! Luik at it! The jaws (waves) gang doon +as gin they war sae mony wholpies!" + +She woke with the cry--weeping. + +"I thocht _I_ had the sicht o' my een," she said sobbing, "and the Lord +was blin' wi' sleep." + +"Do you hear the watter?" said Annie. + +"Wha cares for _that_ watter!" she answered, in a tone of contempt. "Do +ye think He canna manage _hit_!" + +But there was a _jabble_ in the room beside them, and Annie heard it. +The water was yelping at the foot of the bed. + +"The watter's i' the hoose!" cried she, in terror, and proceeded to +rise. + +"Lie still, bairn," said Tibbie, authoritatively. "Gin the watter be i' +the hoose, there's no ootgang. It'll be doon afore the mornin'. Lie +still." + +Annie lay down again, and Tibbie resumed: + +"Gin we be i' the watter, the watter's i' the how o' his han'. Gin we +gang to the boddom, he has only to open's fingers, an' there we are, +lyin' i' the loof o' 's han', dry and warm. Lie still." + +And Annie lay so still, that in a few minutes more she was asleep +again. Tibbie slept too. + +But Annie woke from a terrible dream--that a dead man was pursuing her, +and had laid a cold hand upon her. The dream was gone, but the cold +hand remained. + +"Tibbie!" she cried, "the watter 's i' the bed." + +"What say ye, lassie?" returned Tibbie, waking up. + +"The watter's i' the bed." + +"Weel, lie still. We canna sweyp it oot." + +The water was in the bed. And it was pitch dark. Annie, who lay at the +front, stretched her arm over the side. It sunk to the elbow. In a +moment more the bed beneath her was like a full sponge. She lay in +silent terror, longing for the dawn. + +"I'm terrible cauld," said Tibbie. + +Annie tried to answer her, but the words would not leave her throat. +The water rose. They were lying half-covered with it. Tibbie broke out +singing. Annie had never heard her sing, and it was not very musical. + + "Saviour, through the desert lead us. + Without thee, we cannot go. + +Are ye waukin', lassie?" + +"Ay," answered Annie. + +"I'm terrible cauld, an' the watter's up to my throat. I canna muv, I'm +sae cauld. I didna think watter had been sae cauld." + +"I'll help ye to sit up a bit. Ye'll hae dreidfu' rheumatize efter +this, Tibbie," said Annie, as she got up on her knees, and proceeded to +lift Tibbie's head and shoulders, and draw her up in the bed. + +But the task was beyond her strength. She could not move the helpless +weight, and, in her despair, she let Tibbie's head fall back with a +dull plash upon the bolster. + +Seeing that all she could do was to sit and support her, she got out of +bed and waded across the floor to the fireside to find her clothes. But +they were gone. Chair and all had been floated away, and although she +groped till she found the floating chair, she could not find the +clothes. She returned to the bed, and getting behind Tibbie, lifted her +head on her knees, and so sat. + +An awful dreary time followed. The water crept up and up. Tibbie moaned +a little, and then lay silent for a long time, drawing slow and feeble +breaths. Annie was almost dead with cold. + +Suddenly in the midst of the darkness Tibbie cried out, + +"I see licht! I see licht!" + +A strange sound in her throat followed, after which she was quite +still. Annie's mind began to wander. Something struck her gently on the +arm, and kept bobbing against her. She put out her hand to feel what it +was. It was round and soft. She said to herself: + +"It's only somebody's heid that the water's torn aff," and put her hand +under Tibbie again. + +In the morning she found it was a drowned hen. + +At length she saw motion rather than light. The first of the awful dawn +was on the yellow flood that filled the floor. There it lay throbbing +and swirling. The light grew. She strained her eyes to see Tibbie's +face. At last she saw that the water was over her mouth, and that her +face was like the face of her father in his coffin. Child as she was, +she knew that Tibbie was dead. She tried notwithstanding to lift her +head out of the water, but she could not. So she crept from under her, +with painful effort, and stood up in the bed. The water almost reached +her knees. The table was floating near the bed. She got hold of it, and +scrambling on to it, sat with her legs in the water. For another long +space, half dead and half asleep, she went floating about, dreaming +that she was having a row in the _Bonnie Annie_ with Alec and Curly. In +the motions of the water, she had passed close to the window looking +down the river, and Truffey had seen her. + +Wide awake she started from her stupor at the terrible bang with which +the door burst open. She thought the cottage was falling, and that her +hour was come to follow Tibbie down the dark water. + +But in shot the sharp prow of the _Bonnie Annie_, and in glided after +it the stooping form of Alec Forbes. She gave one wailing cry, and +forgot everything. + +That cry however had not ceased before she was in Alec's arms. In +another moment, wrapt in his coat and waistcoat, she was lying in the +bottom of the boat. + +Alec was now as cool as any hero should be, for he was doing his duty, +and had told the devil to wait a bit with his damnation. He looked all +about for Tibbie, and at length spied her drowned in her bed. + +"So much the more chance for Annie and me!" he said. "But I wish I had +been in time." + +What was to be done next? Down the river he must go, and they would be +upon the bridge in two moments after leaving the cottage.--He must +shoot the middle arch, for that was the highest. But if he escaped +being dashed against the bridge before he reached the arch, and even +had time to get in a straight line for it, the risk was a terrible one, +with the water within a few feet of the keystone. + +But when he shot the _Bonnie Annie_ again through the door of the +cottage, neither arch nor bridge was to be seen, and the boat went down +the open river like an arrow. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXV. + + +Alec, looking down the river on his way to the cottage, had not seen +the wooden bridge floating after him. As he turned to row into the +cottage, it went past him. + +The stone bridge was full of spectators, eagerly watching the boat, for +Truffey had spread the rumour of the attempt; while the report of the +situation of Tibbie and Annie having reached even the Wan Water, those +who had been watching it were now hurrying across to the bridge of the +Glamour. + +The moment Alec disappeared in the cottage, some of the spectators +caught sight of the wooden bridge coming down full tilt upon them. +Already fears for the safety of the stone bridge had been openly +expressed, for the weight of water rushing against it was tremendous; +and now that they saw this ram coming down the stream, a panic, with +cries and shouts of terror, arose, and a general rush left the bridge +empty just at the moment when the floating mass struck one of the +principal piers. Had the spectators remained upon it, the bridge might +have stood. + +But one of the crowd was too much absorbed in watching the cottage to +heed the sudden commotion around him. This was Truffey, who, leaning +wearily on the parapet with his broken crutch looking over it also at +his side, sent his soul through his eyes to the cottage window. Even +when the bridge struck the pier, and he must have felt the mass on +which he stood tremble, he still kept staring at the cottage. Not till +he felt the bridge begin to sway, I presume, had he a notion of his +danger. Then he sprang up, and made for the street. The half of the +bridge crumbled away behind him, and vanished in the seething yellow +abyss. + +At this moment, the first of the crowd from the Wan Water reached the +bridge-foot. Amongst them came the schoolmaster. Truffey was making +desperate efforts to reach the bank. His mended crutch had given way, +and he was hopping wildly along. Murdoch Malison saw him, and rushed +upon the falling bridge. He reached the cripple, caught him up in his +strong arms, turned and was half way to the street, when with a swing +and a sweep and a great plash, the remaining half of the bridge reeled +into the current and vanished. Murdoch Malison and Andrew Truffey left +the world each in the other's arms. + +Their bodies were never found. + +A moment after the fall of the bridge, Robert Bruce, gazing with the +rest at the triumphant torrent, saw the _Bonnie Annie_ go darting past. +Alec was in his shirt-sleeves, facing down the river, with his oars +level and ready to dip. But Bruce did not see Annie in the bottom of +the boat. + +"I wonner hoo auld Marget is," he said to his wife the moment he +reached home. + +But his wife could not tell him. Then he turned to his two younger +children. + +"Bairns," he said, "Annie Anderson's droont. Ay, she's droont," he +continued, as they stared at him with frightened faces. "The Almichty's +taen vengeance upon her for her disobedience, and for brackin' the +Sawbath. See what ye'll come to, bairns, gin ye tak up wi' ill loons, +and dinna min' what's said to ye. _She's_ come to an ill hinner-en'?" + +Mrs Bruce cried a little. Robert would have set out at once to see +Margaret Anderson, but there was no possibility of crossing the Wan +Water. + +Fortunately for Thomas Crann, James Johnstone, who had reached the +bridge just before the alarm arose, sped to the nearest side, which was +that away from Glamerton. So, having seen the boat go past, with Alec +still safe in it, he was able to set off with the good news for Thomas. +After searching for him at the miller's and at Howglen, he found him +where he had left him, still on his knees, with his hands in the grass. + +"Alec's a' safe, man," he cried. + +Thomas fell on his face, and he thought he was dead. But he was only +giving lowlier thanks. + +James took hold of him after a moment's pause. Thomas rose from the +earth, put his great horny hand, as a child might, into that of the +little weaver, and allowed him to lead him whither he would. He was +utterly exhausted, and it was hours before he spoke. + +There was no getting to Glamerton. So James took him to the miller's +for shelter and help, but said nothing about how he had found him. The +miller made Thomas drink a glass of whisky and get into his bed. + +"I saw ye, Thamas, upo' yer knees," said he; "but I dauredna come near +ye. Put in a word for me, neist time, man." + +Thomas made him no reply. + +Down the Glamour and down the Wan-Water, for the united streams went by +the latter name, the terrible current bore them. Nowhere could Alec +find a fit place to land, till they came to a village, fortunately on +the same side as Howglen, into the street of which the water flowed. He +bent to his oars, got out of the current, and rowed up to the door of a +public-house, whose fat kind-hearted landlady had certainly expected no +guests that day. In a few minutes Annie was in a hot bath, and before +an hour had passed, was asleep, breathing tranquilly. Alec got his boat +into the coach-house, and hiring a horse from the landlord, rode home +to his mother. She had heard only a confused story, and was getting +terribly anxious about him, when he made his appearance. As soon as she +learned that he had rescued Annie, and where he had left her, she had +Dobbin put to the gig, and drove off to see after her neglected +favourite. + +From the moment the bridge fell, the flood began to subside. Tibbie's +cottage did not fall, and those who entered, the next day, found her +body lying in the wet bed, its face still shining with the reflex of +the light which broke upon her spirit as the windows were opened for it +to pass. + +"See sees noo," said Thomas Crann to James Johnstone, as they walked +together at her funeral. "The Lord sent that spate to wash the scales +frae her een." + +Mrs Forbes brought Annie home to Howglen as soon as she was fit to be +moved. + +Alec went to town again, starting a week before the commencement of the +session. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXVI. + + +It was on a bright frosty evening in the end of October, that Alec +entered once more the streets of the great city. The stars were +brilliant over-head, the gems in Orion's baldric shining oriently, and +the Plough glittering with frost in the cold blue fields of the +northern sky. Below, the streets shone with their own dim stars; and +men and women wove the web of their life amongst them as they had done +for old centuries, forgetting those who had gone before, and careless +of those who were to come after. + +The moment he had succeeded in satisfying his landlady's inquisition, +he rushed up to Mr Cupples's room. Mr Cupples was out. What was Alec to +do? He could not call on Mr Fraser that night; and all space between +him and Kate growing more immeasurable the nearer he came to her, he +could not rest for the feeling of distance. So he wandered out, and +along the sea-shore till under the wall of the pier. The tide was low, +and the wall high over his head. He followed it to the edge of the +water, and gazed out over the dim lead-coloured sea. While he stood +thus, he thought he heard voices in the air, and looking up, saw, far +over him, on the top of the wall, two heads standing out against the +clear sky, one in a bonnet, the other in a Glengarry. Why should he +feel a pang in his heart? Surely there were many girls who took +starlight walks on that refuge in the sea. And a Glengarry was no +uncommon wear for the youths of the city. He laughed at his own weak +fancies, turned his back on the pier, and walked along the shore +towards the mouth of the other river which flowed into the same bay. As +he went, he glanced back towards the top of the wall, and saw the +outline of the man. He was in full Highland dress. The woman he could +not see, for she was on the further side of her companion. By the time +he was halfway to the college, he had almost forgotten them. + +It was a desolate shore along which he walked. Two miles of sand lay by +the lip of the sea on his right. On his left rose irregular and +changeful mounds of dry sand, upon which grew coarse grass and a few +unpleasant-looking plants. From the level of the tops of these mounds +stretched away a broad expanse of flat uncultivated ground, covered +with thin grass. This space had been devoted, from time immemorial, to +the sports of the city, but at this season, and especially at this +hour, it was void as the Sahara. After sauntering along for half an +hour, now listening to the wind that blew over the sand-hills, and now +watching the spiky sparkle of the wintry stars in the sea, he reached a +point whence he could descry the windows of Mr Fraser's part of the +college. There was no light in Kate's window. She must be in the +dining-room with her uncle--or--or--on the pier--with whom? He flung +himself on the sand. All the old despair of the night of thunder, of +the moonlight ramble, of the last walk together, revived. He dug with +his fingers into the sand; and just so the horrible pain was digging, +like a live creature with claws, into his heart. But Kate was indeed +sitting quietly with her uncle, while he lay there on the sea-shore. + +Time passes quickly in any torment--merciful provision. Suddenly +something cold seemed to grasp him by the feet. He started and rose. +Like a wild beast in the night, the tide had crept up upon him. A +horror seized him, as if the ocean were indeed a slimy monster that +sought to devour him where he lay alone and wretched. He sprang up the +sand before him, and, sliding back at every step, gained the top with +difficulty, and ran across the _links_ towards the city. The exercise +pumped the blood more rapidly through his brain, and before he reached +home hope had begun to dawn. He ascended the garret-stairs, and again +knocked at Mr Cupples's door. + +"Come in," reached his ear in a strange dull tone. Mr Cupples had +shouted into his empty tumbler while just going to swallow the last few +drops without the usual intervention of the wine-glass. Alec hesitated, +but the voice came again with its usual ring, tinged with irritation, +and he entered. + +"Hillo, bantam!" exclaimed Mr Cupples, holding out a grimy hand, that +many a lady might have been pleased to possess and keep clean and +white: "Hoo's the soo? And hoo's a' the cocks and hens?" + +"Brawly," returned Alec. "Hoo's the _tappit hen_?"--a large bottle, +holding six quarts, in which Mr Cupples kept his whisky. + +Mr Cupples opened his eyes wide, and stared at Alec, who saw that he +had made a blunder. + +"I'll hae nae jaw frae you, younker," said he slowly. "Gin ye be sae +ill at ease 'at ye maun tak' leeberties for the sake o' bein' +facetious, ye can jist gang doon the stair wi' a quaiet sough." + +"I beg your pardon, Mr Cupples," said Alec earnestly, for he was vexed +with himself. "But ye're quite richt; I am some ill at ease." + +"I thocht as muckle. Is the rainbow beginnin' to cast (fade) a wee? Has +the fit o' Iris ca'd a hole i' the airch o' 't? Eh, man! man! Tak' to +the mathemawtics and the anawtomy, and fling the conic sections an' the +banes i' the face o' the bonny jaud--Iris, I mean, man, no ither, lass +or leddy." + +For Mr Cupples had feared, from the expression of Alec's face, that he +had given him offence in return. A silence of a few seconds followed, +which Alec gladly broke. + +"Are you still acting as librarian, Mr Cupples?" he said. + +"Ay. I'm actin' _as_ librarian," returned Cupples dryly. "And I'm +thinkin'," he added, "that the buiks are beginnin' to ken by this time +what they're aboot; for sic a throuither disjaskit midden o' lere, I +never saw. Ye micht hae taicklet it wi' a graip" (_a three-pronged +fork_, a sort of agricultural trident). "Are ye gaun to tak' the +cheemistry alang wi' the naiteral philoasophy?" + +"Ay." + +"Weel, ye jist come to me, as ye hae done afore. I'm no sae gude at +thae things as I am at the Greek; but I ken mair already nor ye'll ken +whan ye ken a' 'at ye will ken. And that's nae flattery either to you +or me, man." + +With beating heart, Alec knocked the next day at Mr Fraser's door, and +was shown into the drawing-room, where sat Kate alone. The moment he +saw her, he knew that there was a gulf between them as wide as the +Glamour in a spate. She received him kindly, nor was there anything in +her manner or speech by which he could define an alteration; and yet, +with that marvellous power of self-defence, that instinctive knowledge +of spirituo-military engineering with which maidens are gifted, she had +set up such a palisade between them, dug such a fosse, and raised such +a rampart, that without knowing how the effect was produced, he felt +that he could not approach her. It is strange how women can put out an +invisible arm and push one off to an infinite removal. + +With a miserable sense of cold exhaustion and aching disappointment, he +left her. She shook hands with him warmly, was very sorry her uncle was +out, and asked him whether he would not call again to-morrow, when he +would certainly be at home? He thanked her in a voice that seemed to +him not his own, while her voice appeared to him to come out of some +far-off cave of the past. The cold frosty air received him as he +stepped from the door, and its breath was friendly. If the winter would +only freeze him to one of its icicles, and still that heart of his +which would go on throbbing although there was no reason for it to +throb any more! Yet had he not often found her different from what he +had expected? And might not this be only one of her many changeful +moods? Perhaps. + +So feeling that he had nothing to do and only one thing to think about, +he wandered further through the old burgh, past the lingering fragment +of its once mighty cathedral, and down to the bridge which, with its +one Gothic arch as old as the youth of Chaucer, spanned the channel, +here deep and narrow, of the long-drawn Highland river. Beyond it lay +wintry woods, clear-lined against the pale blue sky. Into these he +wandered, and was going on, seeing nothing, thinking nothing, almost +feeling nothing, when he heard a voice behind him. + +"Hillo, bantam!" it cried; and Alec did not need to turn to know who +called. + +"I saw ye come oot o' Professor Fraser's," said Cupples, "and I thocht +a bit dauner i' the caller air wad do me no ill; sae I jist cam' efter +ye." + +Then changing his tone, he added, + +"Alec, man, haud a grip o' yersel'. Dinna tyne that Lowse onything +afore ye lowse haud o' yersel'." + +"What do you mean, Mr Cupples?" asked Alec, not altogether willing to +understand him. + +"Ye ken weel eneuch what I mean. There's a trouble upo' ye. I'm no +speirin' ony questons. But jist haud a grip o' yersel'. Rainbows! +Rainbows!--We'll jist hae a walk thegither, an' I'll instruck ye i' the +first prenciples o' naiteral philosophy.--First, ye see, there's the +attraction o' graivitation, and syne there's the attraction o' +cohesion, and syne there's the attraction o' adhesion; though I'm +thinkin', i' the lang run, they'll be a' fun' to be ane and the same. +And syne there's the attraction o' affeenity, whilk differs mair nor a +tae's length frae the lave. In hit, ye see, ae thing taks till anither +for a whilie, and hauds gey and sicker till 't, till anither comes 'at +it likes better, whaurupon there's a proceedin' i' the Chancery o' +Natur--only it disna aye haud lang, and there's nae lawyers' fees--and +the tane's straughtways divorced frae the tither." + +And so he went on, giving a kind of humorous travesty of a lecture on +physics, which, Alec could not help perceiving, glanced every now and +then at his mental condition, especially when it came to treat of the +mechanical powers. It was evident that the strange being had some +perception of the real condition of Alec's feelings. After walking a +couple of miles into the open country, they retraced their footsteps. +As they approached the college, Mr Cupples said: + +"Noo, Alec, ye maun gang hame to yer denner. I'll be hame afore nicht. +And gin ye like, ye can come wi' me to the library the morn, and I'll +gie ye something to do." + +Glad of anything to occupy his thoughts, Alec went to the library the +next day; and as Mr Cupples was making a catalogue, and at the same +time a thorough change in the arrangement of the books--both to be +after his own heart--he found plenty for him to do. + +Alec soon found his part in the catalogue-work becoming agreeable. But +although there was much to be done as well in mending old covers, +mounting worn title-pages, and such like, in this department Mr Cupples +would accept no assistance. Indeed if Alec ventured to take up a book +destined for repair, he would dart at him an anxious, almost angry +glance, and keep watching him at uneasy intervals till he had laid it +down again. Books were Mr Cupples's gold and jewels and furniture and +fine clothes, in fact his whole _gloria mundi_. + +But the opening day was at hand, after which Alec would have less time. +Still he resolved, as some small return for the kindness of Mr Cupples, +that he would continue to give him what help he could; for he had +discovered that the pro-librarian lived in continual dread lest the +office should be permanently filled before he had completed his labour +of re-organization. + +During the few days passed in the library, he called once upon Mr +Fraser, and met with a warm reception from him. Kate gave him a kind +one as before; but he had neither the satisfaction nor the pain of +being alone with her. + +At the opening, appeared amongst the rest Patrick Beauchamp--claiming +now the name and dignity of The Mac Chattachan, for his grandfather was +dead, and he was heir to the property. He was, if possible, more +haughty than before; but students are not, as a class, ready to respond +to claims of superiority upon such grounds as he possessed, and, except +by a few who were naturally obsequious, he continued to be called +Beauchamp, and by that name I shall call him too. + +It soon came out that when lecture-hours were over, he put off his +lowland dress, and went everywhere in Highland costume. Indeed on the +first day Alec met him in the gloaming thus attired; and the flash of +his cairngorms as he passed seemed to scorch his eyes, for he thought +of the two on the pier, and the miserable hour that followed. Beauchamp +no longer attended the anatomical lectures; and when Alec observed his +absence, he recalled the fact that Kate could never bear even a distant +reference to that branch of study. Whether he would have gone in for it +with any heartiness himself this session, had it not been for the good +influence of Mr Cupples, is more than doubtful. But he gave him +constant aid, consisting in part of a liberal use of any kind of mental +goad that came to his hand--sometimes praise, sometimes rebuke, +sometimes humorous execration. + +Fortunately for the designs of Beauchamp, Mr Fraser had been visiting +in his mother's neighbourhood; and nothing was easier for one who, like +most Celts, possessed more than the ordinary power of ingratiating, +than to make himself agreeable to the old man. When he took his leave +to return to the college, Mr Fraser declared himself sorry that he had +made no better acquaintance with him before, and begged that he would +call upon him when he came up. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXVII. + + +Soon after the commencement of the session, a panic seized the +townspeople in consequence of certain reports connected with the school +of anatomy, which stood by itself in a low neighbourhood. They were to +the effect that great indignities were practised upon the remains of +the _subjects_, that they were huddled into holes about the place, and +so heedlessly, that dogs might be seen tearing portions from the earth. +What truth there may have been at the root of these reports, I cannot +tell; but it is probable they arose from some culpable carelessness of +the servants. At all events, they were believed in the neighbourhood, +occupied by those inhabitants of the city readiest to receive and dwell +upon anything revolting. But what pushed the indignation beyond the +extreme of popular endurance, was a second rumour, in the consternation +occasioned by which the whole city shared: the _resurrectionists_ were +at their foul work, and the graveyard, the place of repose, was itself +no longer a sanctuary! Whether the authorities of the medical school +had not been guilty of indifference, contenting themselves with asking +no questions about the source whence the means of prosecuting their art +was derived, may be a question. But fear altogether outstripped +investigation, and those even who professed unbelief, took precautions; +whence the lights of the watchers of the dead might be seen twinkling, +far into the morning, in the solemn places around the city churches; +while many a poor creature who would have sold his wife's body for five +pounds, was ready to tear a medical student to pieces on the mere +chance that his scalpel had touched a human form stolen from the sacred +enclosure. + +Now whether Beauchamp, who had watched Alec in the same situation +before, had anything to do with what follows I cannot tell; but his +conduct then lays him open to suspicion now. + +Alec, who found some escape if not relief from painful thought in the +prosecution of his favourite study, was thus occupied one evening, no +very unfrequent occurrence, by candlelight. He had almost reached a +final understanding of the point in pursuit, when he was roused from +his absorption by a yell outside. He had for some time previous heard a +sound of gathering commotion, but had paid no attention to it. He +started up from his stooping posture, and having blown out his candle, +perceived by the lamps outside, that a crowd of faces, pale in the +darkness, was staring through the high iron palisade which surrounded +the school. They had seen his light, and were now watching for his +coming out. He knew that upon the smallest additional excitement the +locked gates and palisade would not keep them off more than half a +minute; so he instantly barred the shutters, and betook himself to the +porter's room. As he crossed the small open corner between the two +doors, he heard the _sough_ of their angry speech swelling and falling +like a wind in the upper regions of the night; but they did not see +him. Fortunately, there was a side door in the railing, seldom used, of +which the key hung in the porter's room. By this door Alec let himself +out, and relocked it. But the moment he turned to go home, he heard an +urchin, who had peeped round a corner, screech to the crowd across the +enclosure: + +"He's oot at the back yett! He's oot at the back yett and awa'!" + +Another yell arose, and the sounds of trampling feet. + +Alec knew that his only chance lay in his heels, and took to them +faithfully. Behind him came the crowd in hot pursuit. The narrow +streets rang with their shouts of execration. Such curses could hardly +be heard elsewhere in Europe. Alec, knowing most of the courts and +passages, doubled on his pursuers in the hope of eluding them. But +discovering that he had his instrument still in his hand, he stopped to +put it down the bars of a grating, for a cut from it would have been +most perilous, as he had been using it a day too soon; and before he +had gained another turning, his pursuers were on his track and had +caught sight of him. But Alec's wind and muscles were both good; and in +five minutes more he was at the back entrance to his own lodging, +having left the mob far behind him. He darted up to Mr Cupples, and as +soon as he found breath enough, told him his adventure, saying with a +laugh, as he concluded, + +"It's a mercy there's as muckle o' me to the fore as can tell the +tale!" + +"Jist tak' ye tent, bantam," returned Mr Cupples, who had suddenly +assumed a listening attitude, with his head on one side, "or ye mayna +tell the neist. Hark!" + +From far below arose the dull sound of many feet on the stone-stairs. +Mr Cupples listened for a moment as if fascinated, then turning quietly +in his chair, put the poker in the fire. Alec rose. + +"Sit down, you fool!" cried Cupples; and Alec obeyed. + +By this time the mob was thundering at the door of the flat below. And +the fact that they knew where Alec lived adds to my suspicion of +Beauchamp. The landlady wisely let them in, and for a few minutes they +were busy searching the rooms. Then the noise of their feet was heard +on the wooden stair leading up to the garret, whereupon Mr Cupples +turned the poker in the fire, and said to Alec, + +"Rin into that hole there, direckly." + +He pointed with the red-hot poker to the door already mentioned as +partly sunk in the slope of the ceiling, and then stuck the poker in +the fire again. Alec pulled the door open, and entering closed it +behind him. The next moment, guided by the light from under it, the +foremost footsteps reached the door, and the same instant Mr Cupples +appeared in it with his glowing weapon in his hand. Faces with flashing +eyes filled the dark garret outside. + +"What do ye want?" asked Mr Cupples. + +"We want a resurrectioner 'at bides i' this hoose--a foul bane-pikin' +doctor," answered a huge, black-faced smith. + +"What do ye want wi' _him_?" + +"What are _ye_ stan'in' jawin' there for? Haud oot o' the gait. Gin he +bena in your box, what's the odds o' oor luikin' in't?" + +"Haud a quaiet sough, my man," answered Cupples, raising the point of +the worn old weapon, the fervency of whose whiteness had already dimmed +to a dull scaly red, "or I s' lat ye ken' at I'm i' my ain hoose. My +certy! but this'll gang throu ye as gin ye war sae mony kegs o' saut +butter!" + +And he gave a flourish with his rapier--the crowd yielding a step +before it--as he asked once more-- + +"What do ye want wi' him?" + +"To ca the sowl oot o' the wame o' the deil's buckie o' him," said a +limping ostler. + +"I s' pang the mou' o' him wi' the hip o' a corp," cried a pale-faced +painter, who seemed himself to belong to the injured fraternity of +corpses. + +A volley of answers too horrible for record, both in themselves and in +the strange devilry of their garnish of oaths, followed. Mr Cupples did +not flinch a step from his post. But, alas! his fiery sword had by this +time darkened into an iron poker, and the might of its enchantment +vanished as the blackness usurped its glow. He was just going to throw +it away, and was stretching out his other hand for his grandfather's +broadsword, which he had put in the corner by the door ready to replace +it, when a long arm, with a fist at the end of it, darted from between +the heads in front of him, hurled him across the room, and laid him +bleeding and senseless on his own hearth. The poker flew from his hand +as he fell. The crowd rushed in after him, upset his table, broke open +the door that protected his precious books, and with one vigorous kick +from the blacksmith's apprentice, sent in the door of Alec's retreat. +But at that moment Alec was contemplating the crowd below from a regal +seat between two red chimney-pots. + +For as soon as he had drawn-to the door of the closet, instead of +finding darkness, he became aware of moonshine, coming through a door +that led out upon the roof. This he managed to open, and found himself +free of the first floor of the habitable earth, the cat-walk of the +world. As steady in foot and brain as any sailor, he scrambled up the +roof, seated himself as I have said, and gave himself up to the +situation. A sort of stubby underwood of chimney-pots grew all about +him out of red and blue ridges. Above him the stars shone dim in the +light of the moon, which cast opal tints all around her on the white +clouds; and beneath him was a terrible dark abyss, full of raging men, +dimly lighted with lamps. Cavernous clefts yawned in all directions, in +the side of which lived men and women and children. What a seething of +human emotions was down there! Would they ever be sublimed out of that +torture-pit into the pure air of the still heaven, in which the moon +rode like the very throne of peace? + +Alec had gone through enough of trouble already to be able to feel some +such passing sympathy for the dwellers in the city below. But the +sounds of search in the closet recalled him to a sense of his position. +If his pursuers looked out at the door, they would see him at once. He +was creeping round to the other side of the chimney to cower in its +shadow, when a sudden bellow from the street apprized him that the +movement had discovered him to the crowd. Presently stones came flying +about the chimneys, and a busy little demon bounded into the house to +tell the ringleaders that he was on the roof. He therefore slid down +the slope away from the street, and passed on to the roof of the next +house, and thence to the third. + +Arriving at a dingy dormer window, he found that it opened with ease, +admitting him into a little room crowded with dusty books and cobwebs. +He knew then that he was in the territorial outskirts of a certain +second-hand bookseller, with whom he had occasional dealings. He closed +the window, and sat down upon a pile of neglected volumes. The moon +shining through the clouded window revealed rows of books all about +him, of which he could not read even the names. But he was in no want +of the interest they might have afforded him. His thoughts turned to +Kate. She always behaved to him so that he felt both hurt and repelled, +and found it impossible to go to her so often as he would. Yet now when +seated in the solitude of this refuge, his thoughts went back to her +tenderly; for to her they always returned like birds to their tree, +from all the regions whither the energetic dispersion of Mr Cupples +might have scattered them for their pickings of intellectual crumbs. +Now, however, it was but as to a leafless wintry tree, instead of a +nest bowered in green leaves. Yet he was surprised to find that he was +not ten times more miserable; the fact being that, as he had no reason +to fear that she preferred any one else, there was plenty of moorland +space left for Hope to grow upon. And Alec's was one of those natures +that sow Hope everywhere. All that such need is room to sow. Take that +away and they are desperate. Alec did not know what advantage Beauchamp +had been taking of the Professor's invitation to visit him. + +After a time the tumult in the street gradually died away, and Alec +thought he might venture to return to Mr Cupples. Clambering back over +the roofs, he entered, and found the inner door of the closet broken +from its hinges. As he moved it aside, a cry of startled fear +discovered that his landlady was in the room. + +"Guid preserve's, Mr Forbes!" she cried; "whaur come ye frae, and what +hae ye been aboot, to raise the haill toon upo' ye? I trust ye hae nae +legs or airms o' a cauld corp aboot ye. The fowk i' the back streets +canna bide that. An' I winna alloo 't i' my hoose. Jist luik at puir Mr +Cupples here." + +Mr Cupples lay on the bed, with his head bound in a bloody bandage. He +had fallen upon the fender, and a bad cut had been the consequence. He +held out his hand to Alec, and said feebly, + +"Bantam, I thocht ye had yer neck thrawn or this time. Hoo, the muckle +deil! did ye win oot o' their grips?" + +"By playin' the cat a wee," answered Alec. + +"It's the first time," remarked Mr Cupples, "I ever kent I had a door +to the lift (sky). But faith! the sowl o' me was nearhan' gaein' out at +this new ane i' my ain riggin. Gin it hadna been for the guidwife here, +'at cam' up, efter the clanjamfrie had taen themsel's aff, an' fand me +lying upo' the hearthstane, I wad hae been deid or noo. Was my heid +aneath the grate, guidwife?" + +"Na, nae freely that, Mr Cupples; but the blude o' 't was. And ye maun +jist haud yer tongue, and lie still. Mr Forbes, ye maun jist come doon +wi' me; for he winna haud's tongue's lang's ye're there. I'll jist mak' +a cup o' tay till him." + +"Tay, guidwife! Deil slocken himsel' wi yer tay! Gie me a sook o' the +tappit hen." + +"'Deed, Mr Cupples, ye s' hae neither sook nor sipple o' that spring." + +"Ye rigwiddie carlin!" grinned the patient. + +"Gin ye dinna haud yer tongue, I'll gang for the doctor." + +"I'll fling him doon the stair.--Here's doctor eneuch!" he added, +looking at Alec. "Gie me half a glaiss, nate." + +"Never a glaiss nor glaiss sall ye hae frae my han', Mr Cupples. It wad +be the deid o' ye. And forbye, thae ill-faured gutter-partans +(kennel-crabs) toomed the pig afore they gaed. And guid faith! it was +the only wise-like thing they did. Fess the twa halves o' 't, Mr +Forbes, an' lat him see 't wi' the een o' misbelief." + +"Gang oot o' my chaumer wi' yer havers," cried Mr Cupples, "and lea' me +wi' Alec Forbes. He winna deave me wi' his clash." + +"'Deed, I'll no lea' twa sic fules thegither. Come doon the stair +direckly, Mr Forbes." + +Alec saw that it was better to obey. He went up on the sly in the +course of the evening, however, but peeping in and seeing that he +slept, came down again. He insisted upon sitting up with him though, to +which, after repeated vows of prudence and caution, their landlady +consented. + +He was restless and feverish during the night. Alec gave him some +water. He drank it eagerly. A flash of his humour broke through the +cloud of his suffering as he returned the tumbler. + +"Eh, man! that's gran' tipple," he said. "Hoo do ye ca' 't?" + +In the morning he was better; but quite unable to rise. The poor fellow +had very little blood for ordinary organic purposes, and the loss of +any was a serious matter to him. + +"I canna lift my heid, Alec," he said. "Gin that thrawn wife wad hae +but gien me a drappy o' whusky, I wad hae been a' richt." + +"Jist lie ye still, Mr Cupples," said Alec. "I winna gang to the class +the day. I'll bide wi' you." + +"Ye'll do nae sic thing. What's to come o' the buiks forbye, wantin' +you or me to luik efter them? An' the senawtus'll be sayin' that I got +my heid clured wi' fa'in' agen the curbstane." + +"I'll tell them a' aboot it, ane efter anither o' them." + +"Ay; jist do sae. Tell them a' aboot it. It wad brak my hert to pairt +wi' the buiks afore I got them pitten in dacent order. Faith! I wadna +lie still i' my coffin. I wad be thrawin' and turnin', and curfufflin' +a' my win'in' sheet, sae that I wadna be respectable whan I bude to get +up again. Sae ye maunna lat them think that I'm ower drucken for the +buiks to keep company wi', ye ken." + +Alec promised to do all he could to keep such a false conclusion from +entering the minds of the senatus, and, satisfied that he would best +serve the interests of Mr Cupples by doing so at once, set off for +college, to call on the professors before lectures. + +The moment he was out of the room, Mr Cupples got out of bed, and +crawled to the cupboard. To his mortification, however, he found that +what his landlady had said was in the main true; for the rascals had +not left a spoonful either in the bottle which he used as a decanter, +or in the store-bottle called the _tappit (crested) hen_ by way of +pre-eminence. He drained the few drops which had gathered from the +sides of the latter, for it was not in two halves as she had +represented, and crawled back to bed. A fresh access of fever was the +consequence of the exertion. It was many days before he was able to +rise. + +After the morning-classes were over, Alec went to tell Mr Fraser, the +only professor whom he had not already seen, about his adventure, and +the consequences of the librarian's generous interference. + +"I was uneasy about you, Mr Forbes," said the professor, "for I heard +from your friend Beauchamp that you had got into a row with the +blackguards, but he did not know how you had come off." + +His friend Beauchamp! How did he know about it? And when could he have +told Mr Fraser?--But Kate entered, and Alec forgot Beauchamp. She +hesitated, but advanced and held out her hand. Alec took it, but felt +it tremble in his with a backward motion as of reluctance, and he knew +that another thickness of the parting veil had fallen between her and +him. + +"Will you stay and take tea with us?" asked the professor. "You never +come to see us now." + +Alec stammered out an unintelligible excuse. + +"Your friend Beauchamp will be here," continued Mr Fraser. + +"I fear Mr Beauchamp is no friend of mine," said Alec. + +"Why do you think that? He speaks very kindly of you--always." + +Alec made no reply. Ugly things were vaguely showing themselves through +a fog. + +Kate left the room. + +"You had better stay," said the old man kindly. + +"I was up all night with Mr Cupples," answered Alec, longing to be +alone that he might think things out, "and I am anxious about him. I +should be quite uneasy if I did stay--thank you, Mr Fraser." + +"Ah! well; your excuse is a good one," answered the old man. And they +parted. + +Alec went home with such a raging jealousy in his heart, that he almost +forgot Mr Cupples, and scarcely cared how he might find him. For this +was the first time he had heard of any acquaintance between the +professor and Beauchamp. And why should Kate hesitate to shake hands +with him? He recalled how her hand had trembled and fluttered on his +arm when he spoke of the red stain on the water; and how she had +declined to shake hands with him when he told her that he had come from +the dissecting-room. And the conviction seized him that Beauchamp had +been working on her morbid sensitiveness to his disadvantage--taking +his revenge on him, by making the girl whom he worshipped shrink from +him with irrepressible loathing. + +And in the lulls of his rage and jealousy, he had some glimpses into +Kate's character. Not that he was capable of thinking about it; but +flashes of reality came once and again across the vapours of passion. +He saw too that her nerves came, as it were, nearer the surface than +those of other people, and that thence she was exposed to those sudden +changes of feeling which had so often bewildered him. And now that +delicate creature was in the hands of Beauchamp--a selfish and +vulgar-minded fellow! That he whom he had heard insult a dead woman, +and whom he had chastised for it, should dare to touch Kate! His very +touch was defilement. But what could he do? Alas! he could only hate. +And what was that, if Kate should love! But she could not love him +already. He would tell her what kind of a person he was. But she would +not believe him, and would set it down to jealousy. And it would be +mean to tell her. Was Kate then to be left to such a fate without a +word of warning? He _would_ tell her, and let her despise him.--And so +the storm raged all the way home. His only comfort lay in saying over +and over again that Kate could not be in love with him yet. + +But if he had seen Kate, that same evening, looking up into Beauchamp's +face with a beauty in her own such as he had never beheld there, a +beauty more than her face could hold, and overflowing in light from her +eyes, he would have found this poor reed of comfort break in his hand +and pierce his heart. Nor could all his hatred have blinded him to the +fact that Beauchamp looked splendid--his pale face, with its fine, +regular, clear-cut features, reflecting the glow of hers, and his +Highland dress setting off to full advantage his breadth of shoulders +and commanding height. Kate had at last found one to whom she could +look up, in whom she could trust! + +He had taken her by storm, and yet not without well-laid schemes. For +instance, having discovered her admiration of Byron, instead of setting +himself, like Alec, to make himself acquainted with that poet, by which +he could have gained no advantage over her, he made himself her pupil, +and listened to everything she had to say about Byron as to a new +revelation. But, at the same time, he began to study Shelley; and, in a +few days, was able to introduce, with sufficient application, one or +two passages gathered from his pages. Now, to a mind like that of Kate, +with a strong leaning to the fantastic and strange, there was that in +Shelley which quite overcrowed Byron. She listened with breathless +wonder and the feeling that now at last she had found a poet just to +her mind, who could raise visions of a wilder beauty than had ever +crossed the horizon of her imagination. And the fountain whence she +drank the charmed water of this delight was the lips of that grand +youth, all nobleness and devotion. And how wide his reading must be, +seeing he knew a writer so well, of whom she had scarcely heard! + +Shelley enabled Beauchamp to make the same discovery, with regard to +Kate's peculiar constitution, on the verge of which Alec had lingered +so long. For upon one occasion, when he quoted a few lines from the +Sensitive Plant--if ever there was a Sensitive Plant in the human +garden, it was Kate--she turned "white with the whiteness of what is +dead," shuddered, and breathed as if in the sensible presence of +something disgusting. And the cunning Celt perceived in this emotion +not merely an indication of what he must avoid, but a means as well of +injuring him whose rival he had become for the sake of injury. Both to +uncle and niece he had always spoken of Alec in familiar and friendly +manner; and now, he would occasionally drop a word or two with +reference to him and break off with a laugh. + +"What _do_ you mean, Mr Beauchamp?" said Kate on one of these +occasions. + +"I was only thinking how Forbes would enjoy some lines I found in +Shelley yesterday." + +"What are they?" + +"Ah, I must not repeat them to you. You would turn pale again, and it +would kill me to see your white face." + +Whereupon Kate pressed the question no further, and an additional +feeling of discomfort associated itself with the name of Alec Forbes. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXVIII. + + +I have said that Mrs Forbes brought Annie home with her. For several +months she lay in her own little room at Howglen. Mrs Forbes was +dreadfully anxious about her, often fearing much that her son's heroism +had only prolonged the process--that she was dying notwithstanding from +the effects of that awful night. At length on a morning in February, +the first wave of the feebly returning flow of the life-tide visited +her heart, and she opened her eyes, seekingly. Through her little +window, at which in summer she knew that the honeysuckle leaned in as +if peeping and hearkening, she saw the country wrapt in a winding-sheet +of snow, through which patches of bright green had begun to dawn, just +as her life had begun to show its returning bloom above the wan waves +of death.--Sickness is just a fight between life and death.--A thrill +of gladness, too pleasant to be borne without tears, made her close her +eyes. They throbbed and ached beneath their lids, and the hot tears ran +down her cheeks. It was not gladness for this reason or for that, but +the essential gladness of being that made her weep: there lay the +world, white and green; and here lay she, faint and alive. And nothing +was wanting to the gladness and kindness of Mrs Forbes but the +indescribable aroma of motherhood, which she was not divine-woman +enough to generate, save towards the offspring of her own body; and +that Annie did not miss much, because all knowledge she had of such +"heavenly health" was associated with the memory of her father. + +As the spring advanced, her strength increased, till she became able to +move about the house again. Nothing was said of her return to the +Bruces, who were not more desirous of having her than Mrs Forbes was of +parting with her. But if there had ever been any danger of Alec's +falling in love with Annie, there was much more now. For as her health +returned, it became evident that a change had passed upon her. She had +always been a womanly child; now she was a childlike woman. Her eyes +had grown deeper, and the outlines of her form more graceful; and a +flush as of sunrise dawned oftener over the white roses of her cheeks. +She had ripened under the snow of her sickness. She had not grown much, +and was rather under than over the ordinary height; but her shape +produced the impression of tallness, and suggested no probability of +further growth. When first Thomas Crann saw her after her illness, he +held her at arm's length, and gazed at her. + +"Eh, lassie!" he said, "ye're grown a wumman! Ye'll hae the bigger hert +to love the Lord wi'. I thocht he wad hae ta'en ye awa' a bairn, afore +ever we had seen what ye wad turn oot; and sair wad I hae missed ye, +bairn! And a' the sairer that I hae lost auld Tibbie. A man canna do +weel withoot some woman or ither to tell him the trowth. I wiss sair +that I hadna been sae cankert wi' her, whiles." + +"I never heard her say that ye was ever cankert, Thomas." + +"No, I daursay no. She wadna say't. She wadna say't. She was a +kin'-herted auld body." + +"But she didna like to be ca'd auld," interposed Annie, with a smile +half in sad reminiscence of her friend's peculiarities, half in gentle +humour, seeking to turn the conversation, and so divert Thomas from +further self-accusation. + +"Aweel, she's nae that auld noo!" he answered with a responsive smile. +"Eh, lassie! it maun be a fine thing to hae the wisdom o' age alang wi' +the licht hert and the strang banes o' yowth. I'm growin' some auld +mysel. I was ance prood o' that airm"--and it was a brawny right arm he +stretched out--"and there was no man within ten mile o' Glamerton 'at +cud lift what I cud lift whan I was five-and-twenty. I daursay that +luiks gey auld to you, no?--But ony lad i' the mason-trade micht ding +me at liftin' noo; for I'm stiff i' the back, and my airm's jist +reid-het whiles wi' the rheumateeze; and gin I lift onything by +ordinar', it gars me host like a cat wi' the backbane o' a herrin' in +her thrapple.--Ye'll be gaun back to Robert Bruce or lang, I'm +thinkin'." + +"I dinna ken. The mistress has said naething aboot it yet. And I'm in +nae hurry, I can tell ye, Thomas." + +"Weel, I daursay no. Ye maun tak a heap o' care, lass, that the plenty +and content ye're livin' in doesna spring up and choke the word." + +"Ay, Thomas," answered Annie with a smile; "it's a fine thing to hae +reamy milk to yer parritch, in place o' sky-blue to meal and water." + +What could ail the lassie? She had never spoken lightly about anything +before. Was she too, like his old friend Alec, forgetting the splendour +of her high calling? + +Such was the thought that passed through Thomas's mind; but the truth +was that, under the genial influences of home tenderness and early +womanhood, a little spring of gentle humour had begun to flow softly +through the quiet fields of her childlike nature. + +The mason gazed at her doubtfully, and was troubled. Annie saw his +discomposure, and taking his great hand in her two little ones, looked +full into his cold grey eyes, and said, still smiling, + +"Eh, Thomas! wadna ye hae a body mak' a grainy fun whiles whan it comes +o' itsel' like?" + +But Thomas, anxious about the state of mind that produced the change, +did not show himself satisfied. + +"We dinna hear 'at the Saviour himsel' ever sae muckle as smiled," said +he. + +"Weel, that wad hae been little wonner, wi' what he had upo' 'm. But +I'm nae sure that he didna, for a' that. Fowk disna aye tell whan a +body lauchs. I'm thinkin' gin ane o' the bairnies that he took upo' 's +knee,--an' he was ill-pleased wi' them 'at wad hae sheued them +awa',--gin ane o' them had hauden up his wee timmer horsie, wi' a +broken leg, and had prayed him to work a miracle an' men' the leg, he +wadna hae wrocht a miracle maybe, I daursay, but he wad hae smilet, or +maybe lauchen a wee, and he wad hae men't the leg some gait or ither to +please the bairnie. And gin 't had been me, I wad raither hae had the +men'in' o' 's ain twa han's, wi' a knife to help them maybe, nor twenty +miracles upo' 't." + +Thomas gazed at her for a moment in silence. Then with a slow shake of +the head, and a full-blown smile on his rugged face, he said: + +"Ye're a curious cratur', Annie. I dinna richtly ken what to mak' o' ye +whiles. Ye're like a suckin' bairn and a gran'mither baith in ane. But +I'm thinkin', atween the twa, ye're maistly i' the right. And ye hae +set me richt afore noo.--Sae ye're nae gaun hame to the Bruces again?" + +"I didna say that," answered Annie; "I only said I had h'ard naething +aboot it yet." + +"What for dinna ye jine the kirk, noo?" said Thomas abruptly, after +having tried in vain to find a gradual introduction to the question. +"Dinna ye think it's a deowty to keep in min' what the great Shepherd +did for his ain chosen flock?" + +"Nae doot o' that, Thomas. But I never thocht o' sic a thing. I dinna +even ken 'at I am ane o' the elec'." + +"Ye dinna ken yet?" + +"No," answered Annie, sorrowfully. + +"I wonner at that," returned Thomas. + +"And, forby," resumed Annie, "gin I war, I'm no guid eneuch yet. An' +besides that--" + +But here she stopped and remained silent. + +"What was ye gaun to say?" asked Thomas, encouragingly. + +But Annie did not reply. She looked perplexed. With the intuition of +sympathy springing from like thoughts, Thomas guessed what was moving +in her mind. + +"I ken what ye're thinkin', lassie," he said. "Ye canna help thinkin' +that there's some in oor mids wha may as weel be nameless, for that +they are no credit to us, neyther wad be to ony body o' whuch they war +jined members. Isna that yer trouble, bairn?" + +"'Deed is't, in pairt, Thomas. But it's mair the state o' my ain +feelin's wi' regaird to ane in particular, nor the fac' that he's a +member o' the kirk. Gin I cud be sure that Mr Bruce wad aye be at the +ither en' o' the seat, I micht think o' 't. It's no that I wadna lat +him tak it. I daurna meddle wi' that. But gin I had to tak' it frae his +han', I jist cudna regaird it as the sacred thing that it bude to be +considered." + +Thomas remained silent, with downcast thoughtful look. + +It may be necessary to state, in explanation of Annie's feelings, that +the Scotch, at the celebration of the Eucharist, sit in long rows, and +pass the bread, each breaking off a portion for himself, and the wine, +from the one to the other. + +The compressed lips and motionless countenance of Thomas showed that he +was thinking more than he was prepared to clothe in words. After +standing thus for a few moments, he lifted his head, and returning no +answer to Annie's exposition of her feelings, bade her _good-bye_, and +walked away. + +The drift of Thomas's reflections I shall now help my reader to see. + +Their appetite for prophecy having assuaged with the assuaging flood, +the people of Glamerton had no capacity for excitement left. The +consequence was that the congregations, especially the evening +congregations, began at once to diminish. Having once ceased to feel +anxiety about some vague impending vengeance, comparatively few chose +to be rated any longer about their sins; while some seeing how in the +_spate_ the righteous were taken and the wicked left, felt themselves +aggrieved, and staid at home on the Sunday nights. Nor was the +deterioration confined to the congregations. Not only had the novelty +of Mr Turnbull's style worn off, but he felt himself that he could not +preach with the same fervour as before; the fact being that he had +exhausted the electric region of the spiritual brain, and without +repose it could never fulminate again. A second and worse consequence +was that, in his dissatisfaction with himself, he attempted to _get up_ +his former excitement by preaching as if he were still under its +influences. Upon this his conscience sternly accused him of hypocrisy +and pretence, which reacted in paralysis; and the whole business became +wretched. Even his greatest admirers were compelled to acknowledge that +Mr Turnbull had lost much of his unction, and that except the Spirit +were poured down upon them from on high, their prospects were very +disheartening. For even the best men in _the Church_, as, following +apostolic example without regard to circumstance, they called each +separate community of the initiate, were worldly enough to judge of the +degree of heavenly favour shown them, not by the love they bore to the +truth and to each other, not by the purity of their collective acts and +the prevalence of a high standard of morality in the individual--poor +as even these divine favours would have been as a measure of the divine +favour--but, in a great degree, by the success which attended the +preaching of their pastor, in adding to their esoteric communion, and, +still worse, by the numbers which repaired to their court of the +Gentiles--their exoteric congregation. Nor, it must be confessed, was +even Thomas Crann, in many things so wise and good, and in all things +so aspiring, an exception. Pondering over the signs of disfavour and +decay, he arrived at the conclusion that there must be an Achan in the +camp. And indeed if there were an Achan, he had known well enough, for +a long time, who would turn out to represent that typical person. Of +course, it could be no other than the money-loving, the +mammon-worshipping Robert Bruce. When, therefore, he found that such a +pearl of price as Annie Anderson was excluded from their "little heaven +below," by the presence of this possible anti-typical Achan, he could +not help feeling his original conviction abundantly strengthened. But +he did not see what could be done. + +Meantime, on the loving, long-remembering Annie dawned a great +pleasure. James Dow came to see her, and had a long interview with Mrs +Forbes, the result of which she learned after his departure. One of the +farm-servants who had been at Howglen for some years was going to leave +at the next term, and Mrs Forbes had asked Dow whether he knew of one +to take his place. Whereupon he had offered himself, and they had +arranged everything for his taking the position of grieve or foreman, +which post he had occupied with James Anderson, and was at present +occupying some ten or twelve miles up the hill-country. Few things +could have pleased Mrs Forbes more; for James Dow was recognized +throughout the country as the very pattern of what a foreman ought to +be; his character for saving his employers all possible expense, having +more than its just proportion in generating this reputation; for this +is a capacity which, in a poor country where it is next to impossible +to be enterprising, will naturally receive at least its full share of +commendation. Of late, Mrs Forbes had found it more difficult to meet +her current expenses; for Alec's requirements at college were heavier +this year than they had been before; so that, much to her annoyance, +she had been compelled to delay the last half-yearly payment of Bruce's +interest. Nor could she easily bear to recall the expression upon his +keen ferret-like face when she informed him that it would be more +convenient to pay the money a month hence. That month had passed, and +another, before she had been able to do so. For although the +home-expenses upon a farm in Scotland are very small, yet in the midst +of plenty, money is often scarce enough. Now, however, she hoped that, +with James Dow's management, things would go better, and she would be +able to hold her mental head a little higher in her own presence. So +she was happy, knowing nothing of the cloud that was gathering over the +far-off university, soon to sweep northward, and envelope Howglen in +its dusky folds. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXIX. + + +A state of something like emotional stupefaction succeeded to the +mental tumult of that evening when first Alec saw that his worst and +wildest forebodings might be even already on the point of realization. +The poor glimmer of hope that remained was only enough to show how +terrible was the darkness around it. It was well for him that gratitude +required of him some ministrations beyond those which he took out of +his landlady's hands the moment he came in from college. His custom was +to carry his books to the sick man's room, and wearily pretend, without +even seeming, to be occupied with them. While thus unemployed he did +not know how anxiously he was watched by the big blue eyes of his +friend, shining like two fallen stars from the cavern of his bed. But, +as I have said, he had more to do for him than merely to supply his few +wants when he came home. For the patient's uneasiness about the books +and the catalogue led him to offer not only to minister to the wants of +the students in the middle of the day, but to spend an hour or two +every evening in carrying on the catalogue. This engagement was a great +relief to the pro-librarian, and he improved more rapidly thenceforth. +Whether Alec's labour was lightened or not by the fact that he had a +chance of seeing Kate pass the windows, I cannot tell, but I think any +kind of emotion lightens labour. And I think the labour lightened his +pain; and I know he was not so absorbed in his unhappiness, though at +times the flashes of a keen agony broke from the dull cloud of his +misery, as to perform the duties he had undertaken in a perfunctory +manner. The catalogue made slow but steady progress. And so did the +librarian. + +"Mr Forbes," said Mr Fraser, looking at him kindly, one morning after +the lecture, "you are a great stranger now. Won't you come and spend +to-morrow evening with us? We are going to have a little party. It is +my birthday, though I'm sure I don't know why an old man like me should +have any birthdays. But it's not my doing. Kate found it out, and she +would have a merry-making. I think myself after a man's forty, he +should go back to thirty-nine, thirty-eight, and so on, indicating his +progress towards none at all. That gives him a good sweep before he +comes to two, one, nought. At which rate I shall be thirteen +to-morrow." + +The old man had rattled on as if he saw the cloud on Alec's face and +would dispel it by kindness. I believe he was uneasy about him. Whether +he divined the real cause of his gloom, or feared that he was getting +into bad ways, I cannot tell. + +He did not succeed, however, in dispelling the cloud; for the thought +at this moment passing through Alec's mind was, that Kate had wanted +the merry-making in order to have Beauchamp there. But with a feeling +like that which makes one irritate a smarting wound, or urge on an +aching tooth, he resolved to go and have his pain in earnest. + +He was the first to arrive. + +Kate was in the drawing-room at the piano, radiant in white--lovelier +than ever. She rose and met him with some embarrassment, which she +tried to cover under more than usual kindness. She had not wished Alec +to be one of the company, knowing it would make him unhappy and her +uncomfortable. + +"Oh Kate!" said Alec, overpowered with her loveliness. + +Kate took it for a reproach, and making no reply, withdrew her hand and +turned away. Alec saw as she turned that all the light had gone out of +her face. But that instant Beauchamp entered, and as she turned once +more to greet him, the light flashed from her face and her eyes, as if +her heart had been a fountain of rosy flame. Beauchamp was magnificent, +the rather quiet tartan of his clan being lighted up with all the +silver and jewels of which the dress admits. In the hilt of his dirk, +in his brooch, and for buttons, he wore a set of old family topazes, +instead of the commoner cairngorm, so that as he entered he flashed +golden light from the dark green cloud of his tartan. Not observing +Alec, he advanced to Kate with the confidence of an accepted lover; but +some motion of her hand or glance from her eyes warned him in time. He +looked round, started a little, and greeted him with a slight bow, of +which Alec took no notice. He then turned to Kate and began to talk in +a low tone, to which she listened with her head hanging like the +topmost bell of a wild hyacinth. As he looked, the last sickly glimmer +of Alec's hope died out in darkness. But he bore up in bitterness, and +a demon awoke in him laughing. He saw the smooth handsome face, the +veil of so much that was mean and wretched, bending over the loveliness +he loved, yet the demon in him only laughed. + +It may appear strange that they should behave so like lovers in the +presence of any third person, much more in the presence of Alec. But +Beauchamp had now made progress enough to secure his revenge of +mortification; and for that, with the power which he had acquired over +Kate's sensitive nature, he drew her into the sphere of his flaunted +triumph, and made her wound Alec to the root of his vulnerable being. +Had Alec then seen his own face, he would have seen upon it the sneer +that he hated so upon that of Beauchamp. For all wickedness tends to +destroy individuality, and declining natures assimilate as they sink. + +Other visitors arrived, and Alec found a strange delight in behaving as +if he knew of no hidden wound, and his mind were in a state of absolute +_neglige_. But how would he meet the cold wind blowing over the +desolate links? + +Some music, and a good deal of provincial talk--not always less human +and elevating than the metropolitan--followed. Beauchamp moderated his +attentions to Kate; but Alec saw that it was in compliance with his +desire that, though reluctant, she went a second time to the piano. The +song she had just sung was insignificant enough; but the second was one +of the ballads of her old Thulian nurse, and had the merit of an +antique northern foundation at least, although it had evidently passed +through the hands of a lowland poet before it had, in its present form, +found its way northwards again to the Shetland Isles. The first tone of +the ghostly music startled Alec, and would have arrested him even if +the voice had not been Kate's. + + "Sweep up the flure, Janet. + Put on anither peat. + It's a lown and starry nicht, Janet, + And neither cauld nor weet. + + And it's open hoose we keep the nicht + For ony that may be oot. + It's the nicht atween the Sancts and Souls, + Whan the bodiless gang aboot + + Set the chairs back to the wa', Janet; + Mak' ready for quaiet fowk. + Hae a' thing as clean as a win'in' sheet: + They comena ilka ook. + + There's a spale* upo' the flure, Janet; + And there's a rowan-berry: + Sweep them into the fire, Janet.-- + They'll be welcomer than merry. + + Syne set open the door, Janet-- + Wide open for wha kens wha; + As ye come benn to yer bed, Janet, + Set it open to the wa'." + + She set the chairs back to the wa', + But ane made o' the birk; + She sweepit the flure,--left that ae spale, + A lang spale o' the aik. + + The nicht was lowne, and the stars sat still, + Aglintin' doon the sky; + And the souls crap oot o' their mooly graves, + A' dank wi' lyin' by. + + She had set the door wide to the wa', + And blawn the peats rosy reid; + They war shoonless feet gaed oot and in, + Nor clampit as they gaed. + + Whan midnicht cam', the mither rase-- + She wad gae see and hear. + Back she cam' wi' a glowerin' face, + And sloomin' wi' verra fear. + +* A wood-shaving. + + "There's ane o' them sittin' afore the fire! + Janet, gang na to see: + Ye left a chair afore the fire, + Whaur I tauld ye nae chair sud be." + + Janet she smiled in her mother's face: + She had brunt the roddin reid; + And she left aneath the birken chair + The spale frae a coffin-lid. + + She rase and she gaed butt the hoose, + Aye steekin' door and door. + Three hours gaed by or her mother heard + Her fit upo' the floor. + + But whan the grey cock crew, she heard + The sound o' shoeless feet; + Whan the red cock crew, she heard the door, + And a sough o' wind and weet. + + And Janet cam' back wi' a wan face, + But never a word said she; + No man ever heard her voice lood oot, + It cam' like frae ower the sea. + + And no man ever heard her lauch, + Nor yet say alas or wae; + But a smile aye glimmert on her wan face, + Like the moonlicht on the sea. + + And ilka nicht 'tween the Sancts and the Souls, + Wide open she set the door; + And she mendit the fire, and she left ae chair, + And that spale upo' the floor. + + And at midnicht she gaed butt the hoose, + Aye steekin' door and door. + Whan the reid cock crew, she cam' benn the hoose, + Aye wanner than afore-- + + Wanner her face, and sweeter her smile; + Till the seventh All Souls' eve. + Her mother she heard the shoeless feet, + Said "she's comin', I believe." + + But she camna benn, and her mother lay; + For fear she cudna stan'. + But up she rase and benn she gaed, + Whan the gowden cock had crawn. + + And Janet sat upo' the chair, + White as the day did daw; + Her smile was a sunlight left on the sea, + Whan the sun has gane awa'. + +Alec had never till now heard her sing really. Wild music and eerie +ballad together filled and absorbed him. He was still gazing at her +lovely head, when the last wailing sounds of the accompaniment ceased, +and her face turned round, white as Janet's. She gave one glance of +unutterable feeling up into Beauchamp's face, and hiding her own in her +handkerchief, sobbed out, "You would make me sing it!" and left the +room. + +Alec's heart swelled with indignant sympathy. But what could he do? The +room became insupportable the moment she had quitted it, and he made +his way to the door. As he opened it, he could not help glancing at +Beauchamp. Instead of the dismay he expected, he saw triumph on his +pale countenance, and in the curl of his scarred lip.--He flew frantic +from the house. The sky was crowded with the watchings of starry eyes. +To his fancy, they were like Beauchamp's, and he hated them. Seeking +refuge from their gaze, he rushed to the library, and threw himself on +a heap of foreign books, which he had that morning arranged for +binding. A ghostly glimmer from the snow, and the stars overhead, made +the darkness thinner about the windows; but there was no other light in +the place; and there he lay, feeling darker within than the night +around him. Kate was weeping in her room; that contemptible ape had +wounded her; and instead of being sorry for it, was rejoicing in his +power. And he could not go to her; she would receive no comfort from +him. + +It was a bitter hour. Eternity must be very rich to make up for some +such hours. + +He had lain a long time with his face down upon the books, when he +suddenly started and listened. He heard the sound of an opening door, +but not of the door in ordinary use. Thinking it proceeded from some +thievish intent, he kept still. There was another door, in a corner, +covered with books, but it was never opened at all. It communicated +with a part of the buildings of the quadrangle which had been used for +the abode of the students under a former economy. It had been abandoned +now for many years, as none slept any longer within the walls of the +college. Alec knew all this, but he did not know that there was also a +communication between this empty region and Mr Fraser's house; or that +the library had been used before as a _tryst_ by Beauchamp and Kate. + +The door closed, and the light of a lantern flashed to the ceiling. +Wondering that such a place should excite the cupidity of +housebreakers, yet convinced that such the intruders were, Alec moved +gently into the embrasure of one of the windows, against the corner of +which abutted a screen of book-shelves. A certain light rustling, +however, startled him into doubt, and the doubt soon passed into +painful conviction. + +"Why were you so unkind, Patrick?" said the voice of Kate. "You know it +kills me to sing that ballad. I cannot bear it." + +"Why should you mind singing an old song your nurse taught you?" + +"My nurse learned it from my mother. Oh Patrick! what _would_ my mother +say if she knew that I met you this way? You shouldn't ask me. You know +I can refuse you nothing; and you should be generous." + +Alec could not hear his answer, and he knew why. That scar on his lip! +Kate's lips there! + +Of course Alec ought not to have listened. But the fact was, that, for +the time, all consciousness of free will and capability of action had +vanished from his mind. His soul was but a black gulf into which poured +the Phlegethontic cataract of their conversation. + +"Ah, yes, Patrick! Kisses are easy. But you hurt me terribly sometimes. +And I know why. You hate my cousin, poor boy!--and you want me to hate +him too. I wonder if you love me as much as he does!--or did; for +surely I have been unkind enough to cure him of loving me. Surely you +are not jealous of him?" + +"Jealous of _him_!--I should think not!" + +Human expression could have thrown no more scorn into the word. + +"But you hate him." + +"I don't hate him. He's not worth hating--the awkward steer!--although +I confess I have cause to dislike him, and have some gratification in +mortifying him. But he's not a pleasant subject to me." + +"His mother has been very kind to me. I wish you would make it up with +him for my sake, Patrick. He may be uncouth and awkward--I don't +know--but that's no reason for hating him. I love you so that I could +love anybody that loved you. You don't know how I love you, +Patrick--though you are unkind sometimes. The world used to look so +cold, and narrow, and grey; but now there is a flush like sunset over +everything, and I am so happy! Patrick, don't make me do things before +my cousin that will hurt him." + +Alec knew that she pressed closer to Beauchamp, and offered him her +face. + +"Listen, my Kate," said Beauchamp. "I know there are things you cannot +bear to hear; but you must hear this." + +"No, no, not now!" answered Kate, shuddering. + +Alec knew how she looked--saw her with the eyes of his memory as she +had looked once or twice--and listened unconscious of any existence but +that of hearing. + +"You must, Kate, and you shall," said Beauchamp. "You asked me only +yesterday how I came by that scar on my lip. I will tell you. I rebuked +that cousin of yours for unmanly behaviour in the dissecting-room, the +very first time he entered it. He made no reply; but when we came out, +he struck me." + +The icy mood passed away, and such a glow of red anger rushed through +Alec's veins, that he felt as if the hot blast from molten metal were +playing upon his face. That Kate should marry such a man! The same +moment he stood in the light of the lantern, with one word on his lips: + +"Liar!" + +Beauchamp's hand sprang to the hilt of his dirk. Alec laughed with +bitter contempt. + +"Pooh!" he said; "even you will not say I am a coward. Do if you dare!" + +After her first startled cry, Kate had stood staring and trembling. +Beauchamp's presence of mind returned. He thrust his half-drawn dirk +into its sheath, and with a curl of the scarred lip, said coldly-- + +"Eaves-dropping." + +"Lying," retorted Alec. + +"Well, I must say," returned Beauchamp, assuming his most polished +tone, "that this kind of conversation is at least unusual in the +presence of a lady." + +Without making him any reply, Alec turned to Kate. + +"Kate," he said, "I swear to you that I struck him only after fair +warning, after insult to myself, and insult to the dead. He did not +know that I was able to give him the chastisement he deserved." + +I doubt if Kate heard any of this speech. She had been leaning against +a book-case, and from it she now slipped sideways to the floor. + +"You brute!" said Beauchamp. "You will answer to me for this." + +"When you please," returned Alec. "Meantime you will leave this room, +or I will make you." + +"Go to the devil!" said Beauchamp, again laying his hand on his dirk. + +"You can claim fair play no more than a wolf," said Alec, keeping his +eye on his enemy's hand. "You had better go. I have only to ring this +bell and the sacrist will be here." + +"That is your regard for your cousin! You would expose her to the +servants!" + +"I will expose her to anything rather than to you. I have held my +tongue too long." + +"And you will leave her lying here?" + +"You will leave her lying here." + +"That is your revenge, is it?" + +"I want no revenge even on you, Beauchamp. Go." + +"I will neither forestall nor forget mine," said Beauchamp, as he +turned and went out into the quadrangle. + +When Alec came to think about it, he could not understand the ease of +his victory. He did not know what a power their first encounter had +given him over the inferior nature of Beauchamp, in whom the animal, +unsupported by the moral, was cowed before the animal in Forbes, backed +by the sense of right. + +And above all things Beauchamp hated to find himself in an awkward +position, which certainly would have been his case if Alec had rung for +the sacrist. Nor was he capable of acting well on the spur of any +moment. He must have plans: those he would carry out remorselessly.--So +he went away to excogitate further revenge. But he was in love with +Kate just enough to be uneasy as to the result of Alec's interview with +her. + +Returning to Kate, Alec found her moaning. He supported her head as she +had done for him in that old harvest field, and chafed her chilly +hands. Before her senses had quite returned, she began to talk, and, +after several inarticulate attempts, her murmured words became plain. + +"Never mind, dear," she said; "the boy is wild. He doesn't know what he +says. Oh, Patrick, my heart is aching with love to you. It is good +love, I know; and you must be kind to me, and not make me do what I +don't like to do. And you must forgive my poor cousin, for he did not +mean to tell lies. He fancies you bad, because I love you so much more +than him. But you know I can't help it, and I daresay he can't either." + +Alec felt as if a green flame were consuming his brain. And the blood +surged so into his head and eyes, that he saw flashes of fire between +him and Kate. He could not remain in such a false position, with Kate +taking him for her lover. But what an awful shock it would be to her +when she discovered the truth! How was it to be avoided? He must get +her home before she recovered quite. For this there was but one chance, +and that lay in a bold venture. Mr Fraser's door was just across a +corner of the quadrangle. He would carry her to her own room. The +guests must be gone, and it was a small household, so that the chance +of effecting it undiscovered was a good one. He did effect it; in three +minutes more he had laid her on her own bed, had rung her bell, and had +sped out of the house as fast and as quietly as he could. + +His gratification at having succeeded in escaping Kate's recognition, +bore him up for a little, but before he reached home his heart felt +like a burnt-out volcano. + +Meantime Mr Cupples had been fretting over his absence, for he had come +to depend very much upon Alec. At last he had rung the bell, knowing +that Mrs Leslie was out, and that it would be answered by a dirty girl +in nailed shoes turned down at the heel; she would be open to a bribe. +Nor did she need much persuasion besides. Off she ran with his empty +bottle, to get it filled at the grocer's over the way. + +When Alec came home, he found his friend fast asleep in bed, the room +smelling strongly of toddy, and the bottle standing on the table beside +the empty tumbler. Faint in body, mind, and spirit, as if from the +sudden temptation of an unholy power, he caught up the bottle. The +_elixir mortis_ flowed gurgling from the narrow neck into the tumbler +which Mr Cupples had lately emptied. Heedless and reckless, he nearly +filled it, and was just lifting it to his lips, when a cry half-moulded +into a curse rang from the bed, and the same instant the tumbler was +struck from his hand. It flew in fragments against the grate, and the +spirit rushed in a roaring flame of demoniacal wrath up the chimney. + +"Damn you!" half-shrieked, half-panted Mr Cupples in his night-shirt, +at Alec's elbow, still under the influence of the same spirit he had +banned on its way to Alec Forbes's empty house--"damn you, bantam! +ye've broken my father's tumler. De'il tak' ye for a vaigabon'! I've a +guid min' to thraw the neck o' ye!" + +Seeing Mr Cupples was only two-thirds of Alec's height, and one-half of +his thickness, the threat, as he then stood, was rather ludicrous. +Miserable as he was, Alec could not help laughing. + +"Ye may lauch, bantam! but I want no companion in hell to cast his +damnation in my teeth. Gin ye touch that bottle again, faith, I'll +brain ye, and sen' ye into the ither warl' withoot that handle at least +for Sawtan to catch a grip o' ye by. And there _may_ be a handle +somewhaur o' the richt side o' ye for some saft-hertit angel to lay +han' upo' and gie ye a lift whaur ye ill deserve to gang, ye thrawn +buckie! Efter a' that I hae said to ye!--Damn ye!" + +Alec burst into a loud roar of laughter. For there was the little man +standing in his shirt, shaking a trembling fist at him, stammering with +eagerness, and half-choked with excitement. + +"Gang to yer bed, Mr Cupples, or ye'll tak' yer deith o' cauld. Luik +here." + +And Alec seized the bottle once more. Mr Cupples flew at him, and would +have knocked the bottle after the glass, had not Alec held it high +above his reach, exclaiming, + +"Toots, man! I'm gaein' to pit it intil its ain neuk. Gang ye to yer +bed, and lippen to me." + +"Ye gie me yer word, ye winna pit it to yer mou'?" + +"I do," answered Alec. + +The same moment Mr Cupples was floundering on the bed in a perplexed +attempt to get under the bed-clothes. A violent fit of coughing was the +consequence of the exertion. + +"Ye're like to toom yer ain kist afore ye brain my pan, Mr Cupples," +said Alec. + +"Haud yer tongue, and lat me host (cough) in peace," panted Mr Cupples. + +When the fit was over, he lay still, and stared at Alec. Alec had sat +down in Mr Cupples's easy-chair, and was staring at the fire. + +"I see," muttered Mr Cupples. "This'll do no longer. The laddie's +gaein' to the dogs for want o' bein' luikit efter. I maun be up the +morn. It's thae wimmen! thae wimmen! Puir things! they canna aye help +it; but, de'il tak' them for bonnie oolets! mony's the fine laddie they +drive into the cluiks o' auld Horney. Michtna some gran' discovery be +made in Pheesiology, to enable the warl' to gang on wantin' them? But, +Lord preserve me! I wad hae naething left worth greetin' aboot!" + +He hid his face in the bed-clothes. + +Alec hearing part of this muttered discourse, had grown attentive, but +there was nothing more forthcoming. He sat for a little, staring +helplessly into the fire. The world was very blank and dismal. + +Then he rose to go to bed; for Mr Cupples did not require him now. +Finding him fast asleep under the bed-clothes, he made him as +comfortable as he could. Then he locked the closet where the whisky +was, and took the key with him. + +Their mutual care in this respect was comical. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXX. + + +The next morning, Alec saw Mr Cupples in bed before he left. His +surprise therefore was great when, entering the library after morning +lectures, he found him seated in his usual place, hard at work on his +catalogue. Except that he was yet thinner and paler than before, the +only difference in his appearance was that his eyes were brighter and +his complexion was clearer. + +"You here, Mr Cupples!" he exclaimed. + +"What garred ye lock the press last nicht, ye deevil?" returned the +librarian, paying no attention to Alec's expression of surprise. "But I +say, bantam," he continued, not waiting for a reply, which indeed was +unnecessary, "ye hae dune yer wark weel--verra near as weel's I cud hae +dune't mysel'." + +"I'm sure, Mr Cupples, it was the least thing I could do." + +"Ye impident cock! It was the verra best you cud do, or ye wadna hae +come within sicht o' me. I mayna be muckle at thrashin' attoarneys, or +cuttin' up deid corpuses, but I defy ye to come up to me at onything +conneckit wi' buiks." + +"Faith! Mr Cupples, ye may gang farther nor that. Efter what ye hae +dune for me, gin I war a general, ye sud lead the Forlorn Hope." + +"Ay, ay. It's a forlorn hope, a' 'at I'm fit for, Alec Forbes," +returned Cupples sadly. + +This struck Alec so near his own grief that he could not reply with +even seeming cheerfulness. He said nothing. Mr Cupples resumed. + +"I hae twa three words to say to you, Alec Forbes. Can ye believe in a +man as weel's ye can in a wumman?" + +"I can believe in you, Mr Cupples. That I'll sweir till." + +"Weel, jist sit doon there, and carry on frae whaur ye loot sit. Syne +efter the three o'clock lecture--wha is't ye're atten'in' this +session?--we'll gang doon to Luckie Cumstie's, and hae a moufu' o' +denner--she 'll do her best for me--an' I'll hae jist a tumler o' +toddy--but de'il a drap sall ye hae, bantam--and de'il a word will I +say to ye there. But we'll come back here, and i' the gloamin', I'll +gie ye a bit episode i' my life.--Episode did I ca' 'it? Faith it's my +life itsel', and no worth muckle, eyther. Ye'll be the first man that +ever I tell't it till. And ye may judge o' my regaird for ye frae that +fac'." + +Alec worked away at his catalogue, and then attended the afternoon +lecture. The dinner at Luckie Cumstie's followed--of the plainest, but +good. Alec's trouble had not yet affected the region in which Paley +seats the organ of happiness. And while an appetite exists, a dinner +will be interesting. Just as the gloaming was fading into night, they +went back to the library. + +"Will I rin ower to the sacrist's for a licht?" asked Alec. + +"Na, na; lat be. The mirk's mercifu', whiles." + +"I canna unnerstan' ye, Mr Cupples. Sin ever I kent ye i' this library, +I never kent ye bide the oncome o' the nicht. As sune's the gloamin' +began to fa', ye aye flew to yer hat, and oot at the door as gin there +had been a ghaist gettin' its banes thegither oot o' the dark to come +at ye." + +"Maybe sae there was, bantam. Sae nane o' your jokin'." + +"I didna mean to anger ye, Mr Cupples." + +"Whaur naething's meant, naething's dune. I'm nae angert. And that +ye'll sune see. Sit ye doon there, and tak yer plaid aboot ye, or ye'll +be cauld." + +"Ye hae nae plaid yersel. Ye're mair like to be cauld nor I am." + +"I weir my plaid o' my inside. Ye haena had ony toddy. Deil's broo! It +may weel haud a body warm. It comes frae a het quarter." + +The open oak ceiling overhead was getting very dark by this time; and +the room, divided and crowded with books in all directions, left little +free course to the light that struggled through the dusty windows. The +friends seated themselves on the lower steps of an open circular oak +staircase which wound up to a gallery running round the walls. + +"Efter I had taen my degree," began Mr Cupples, "frae the han' o' this +same couthy auld mither, I heard o' a grit leebrary i' the north--I +winna say whaur--that wantit the han' o' a man that kenned what he was +aboot, to pit in dacent order, sae that a body cud lay his han's upon a +buik whan he wantit it, and no be i' the condition o' Tantalus, wi' +watter at the mou, but nane for the hause (throat). Dinna imaigin' it +was a public library. Na, na. It belonged to a grit an' gran' +hoose--the Lord hae respec till't, for it's no joke o' a hoose that--as +I weel kent afore a' was ower! Weel, I wrought awa', likin' the wark +weel, for a buik's the bonniest thing i' the warl' but ane, and there's +no dirl (thrill) in't whan ye lay han's upo' 't, as there is, guid +kens, in the ither. Man, ye had better lay han's upon a torpedo, or a +galvanic battery, nor upon a woman--I mean a woman that ye hae ony +attraction till--for she'll gar ye dirl till ye dinna ken yer thoomb +frae yer muckle tae. But I was speikin' aboot buiks an' no aboot women, +only somehoo whatever a man begins wi', he'll aye en' aff wi' the same +thing. The Lord hae a care o' them, for they're awfu' craters! They're +no like ither fowk a'thegither. Weel, ye see, I had a room till +mysel', forby the library an' my bedroom--an' a gran' place that was! I +didna see onything o' the family, for I had my denner and my wine and +'a thing human stammack cud desire served up till me i' my ain room. +But ae day, my denner was made up o' ae mess efter anither, vera fine +nae doot, but unco queer and ootlandish, and I had nae appeteet, and I +cudna eat it. Sae I rase, afore my ordinar' time, and gaed back to my +wark. I had taen twa or three glasses o' a dooms fine tipple they ca' +Madeira, an' a moufu' o' cheese--that was a'. Weel, I sat doon to my +catalogue there, as it micht be here; but I hadna sat copyin' the +teetles o' the buiks laid out upo' the muckle table afore me, for mair +nor twa minutes, whan I heard a kin' o' a reestlin', an' I thocht it +was mice, to whilk I'm a deidly enemy ever sin they ate half o' a first +edition o' the _Fairy Queen_, conteenin' only the first three buiks, ye +ken, o' whilk they consumed an' nae doot assimilated ae haill buik and +full a half o' anither. But whan I luikit up, what sud I see but a wee +leddy, in a goon the colour o' a clood that's takin' nae pairt i' the +sunset, but jist lookin' on like, stan'in afore the buik-shelves i' the +further en' o' the room. Noo I'm terrible lang-sichtit, and I had +pitten the buiks i' that pairt a' richt already wi' my ain han'--and I +saw her put her han' upon a buik that was no fit for her. I winna say +what it was. Some hermaphrodeet cratur had written't that had no respec +for man or woman, an' whase neck sud hae been thrawn by the midwife, +for that buik cam o' sparin' o' 'm! + +"'Dinna touch that buik, my bonny leddy,' I cried. 'It's awfu' fu' o' +dist and stoor. It'll smore ye to open the twa brods o' 't. Yer rosy +goon'll be clean blaudit wi' the stew (dust) o' 't.' + +"She startit and luikit roon some frichtit like, and I rase an' gaed +across the flure till her. And her face grew bonnier as I cam nearer +till her. Her nose an' her twa eebrees jist min'd ye upo' the picturs +o' the Holy Ghost comin' doon like a doo; and oot aneath ilka wing +there luikit a hert o' licht--that was her twa een, that gaed throu and +throu me as gin I had been a warp and they twa shuttles; and faith! +they made o' my life and o' me what it is and I am. They wove the wab +o' me. + +"Ay. They gaed oot and in, and throu and throu, and back and fore, and +roon and aboot, till there wasna a nerve or a fibre o' my bein', but +they had twisted it up jist as a spither does a flee afore he sooks the +life oot o' 't. But that's a prolepsis." + +"'Are you the librarian?' said she, saft and sma', like hersel'. + +"'That I am, mem,' said I. 'My name's Cupples--at your service, mem.' + +"'I was looking, Mr Cupples,' said she, 'for some book to help me to +learn Gaelic. I want very much to read Gaelic.' + +"'Weel, mem,' said I, 'gin it had been ony o' the Romance languages, or +ony ane o' the Teutonic breed, I micht hae gien ye a lift. But I doot +ye maun bide till ye gang to Edinburgh, or Aberdeen, whaur ye'll easy +fa' in wi' some lang-leggit bejan that'll be prood to instruc' ye, and +coont himsel' ower weel paid wi' the sicht o' yer bonny face.' + +"She turned some reid at that, and I was feared that I had angert her. +But she gied a sma' lauch, and oot at the door she gaed, wi' her 'rosy +fleece o' fire' lowin' and glimmerin' aboot her, jist like ane o' the +seraphims that auld Crashaw sings aboot. Only she was gey sma' for a +seraph, though they're nae ower big. Weel, ye see, that was the first +time I saw her. And I thochtna ower muckle mair aboot her. But in a day +or twa there she was again. And she had a hantle to speir at me aboot; +and it took a' the knowledge I had o' buiks in general to answer her +questions. In fac I was whiles compelled to confess my ignorance, which +is no pleesant whan a man wants to stan' weel wi' a bonny crater that +spiers questons. Whan she gaed, I gaed efter her, followin' aboot at +her--i' my thochts, I mean--like a hen efter her ae chucken. She was +bonnier this time than the last. She had tired o' the rosy clood, and +she had on a bonny goon o' black silk, sae modest and sae rich, wi' +diamond buttons up the front o' the briest o' 't. Weel, to mak a lang +story short, and the shorter the better, for it's nae a pleesant ane to +me, she cam aftener and aftener. And she had sae muckle to say and +speir aboot, that at last we had to tak doon buiks, and I had to clear +a neuk o' the table. At lenth I cam to luik for her as reglar as gin +she had been a ghaist, and the time that chappit upo' the auld clock +had belongt to the midnicht instead o' the mornin'. Ye'll be wonnerin' +what like she was. As I tell't ye, she was a wee body, wi' muckle black +een, that lay quaiet in her face and never cam oot till they war +wantit, an' a body gimp and sma', but roon' and weel proportioned +throughoot. Her hand and her fit war jist past expression bonny. And +she had a' her features conformin'--a' sma' but nane o' them ower sma' +in relation to ane anither. And she had a licht way wi' her, that was +jist dazin'. She seemed to touch ilka thing wi' the verra tips o' her +fingers, and syne ken a'thing aboot it, as gin she had a universal +insicht; or raither, I wad say, her natur, notwithstandin' its variety, +was sae homogeneous, that whan ae nerve o' her spiritual being cam in +contack wi' onything, the haill sowl o' her cam in contack wi' 't at +the same time and thereby; and ilka pairt read the report efter its ain +fashion, translatin' 't accordin' to 'ts ain experience: as the +different provinces and languages o' the Chinese Empire read the +universal written tongue. A heap o' pains I took that I micht never hae +to say _I dinna ken_ to sic a gleg-ee'd cratur as that. And ilka day +she cam to read wi' me, and we jist got on like a mail-coach--at least +I did--only the wrang road. An' she cam aye i' the efternoon and bade +till the gloamin' cam doon an' it grew ower mirk to ken the words frae +ane anither. And syne she wad gang and dress hersel' for denner, as she +said. + +"Ye may say I was a muckle gowk. And ye may lauch at a bairn for +greitin' efter the mune; but I doot that same avarice o' the wee man +comes frae a something in him that he wad be ill aff wi'oot. Better +greit for the mune than no be cawpable o' greetin' for the mune. And +weel I wat, I grat for the mune, or a' was dune, and didna get it, ony +mair than the lave o' my greedy wee brithers." + +The night had gathered thick about them. And for a few moments out of +the darkness came no sound. At length Mr Cupples resumed: + +"I maun jist confess, cauf that I was--and yet I wad hae been a greater +cauf gin it hadna been sae--I cud hae lickit the verra dist aff o' the +flure whaur her fit had been. Man, I never saw onything like her, The +hypostasis o' her was jist perfection itsel'. Weel, ae nicht--for I +wrocht full late, my een war suddenly dazed wi' the glimmer o' +something white. I thocht the first minute that I had seen a ghost, and +the neist that I was a ghost mysel'. For there she was in a fluffy +cloud o' whiteness, wi' her bonny bare shouthers and airms, and jist ae +white rose in her black hair, and deil a diamond or ruby aboot her! + +"'It's so hot,' said she, 'in the drawing-room! And they're talking +such nonsense there! There's nobody speaks sense to me but you, Mr +Cupples.' + +"''Deed, mem,' says I, 'I dinna ken whaur it's to come frae the nicht. +For I hae nae sense left but ane, and that's nearhan' 'wi' excess o' +brightness blind.' Auld Spenser says something like that, doesna he, +mem?' I added, seein' that she luikit some grave. But what she micht +hae said or dune, I dinna ken; for I sweir to ye, bantam, I know +nothing that happent efter, till I cam' to mysel' at the soun' o' a +lauch frae outside the door. I kenned it weel eneuch, though it was a +licht flutterin' lauch. Maybe I heard it the better frae the conductin' +pooer o' timmer, for my broo was doon o' the buirds o' the flure. I +sprang to my feet, but the place reeled roon', and I fell. It was the +lauch that killed me. What for sud she lauch?--And sic a ane as her +that was no licht-heidit lassie, but cud read and unnerstan', wi the +best? I suppose I had gane upo' my knees till her, and syne like the +lave o' the celestials she tuik to her feathers and flew. But I ken nae +mair than this: that for endless ages I gaed followin' her through the +heavenly halls, aye kennin as sure's gospel that she was ahint the +neist door, and aye openin' that door upon an empty glory, to be +equally certain that she was ahint the neist. And sae on I gaed till, +ahint ane o' the thoosan' doors, I saw the reek-enamelled couples o' my +auld mither's bit hoosie upo' the mairgin o' the bog, and she was +hingin' ower me, sayin' her prayers as gin she wad gang efter them like +a balloon wi' verra fervour. And whan she saw my een open, she drappit +upo' her knees and gaed on prayin'. And I wonner that thae prayers +warna hearkent till. I never cud unnerstan' that." + +"Hoo ken ye that they warna hearkent till?" asked Alec. + +"Luik at me! Do ye ca' that hearkenin' till a prayer? Luik what she got +me back for. Ca' ye that an answer to prayers like my auld mither's? +Faith! I'll be forced to repent some day for her sake, though there +sudna be anither woman atween Venus and Mars but wad rive wi' lauchin +at a word frae Cosmo Cupples. But, man! I wad hae repentit lang syne +gin I cud hae gotten ae glimp o' a possible justice in pittin a hert as +grit's mine into sic a misgreein', scrimpit, contemptible body as this. +The verra sowl o' me has to draw up the legs o' 't to haud them inside +this coffin o' a corpus, and haud them ohn shot oot into the +everlastin' cauld. Man, the first thing I did, whan I cam' to mysel', +was to justify her afore God for lauchin at me. Hoo could onybody help +lauchin at me? It wasna her wyte. And eh! man, ye dinna ken hoo quaiet +and comfortable I was in my ain min', as sune's I had gotten her +justified to mysel' and had laid it doon that I was ane fit to be +lauchen at.--I winna lat you lauch at me, though, bantam. I tell ye +that." + +"Mr Cupples! Laugh at you! I would rather be a doormat to the devil,' +exclaimed Alec. + +"Thank you, bantam.--Weel, ye see, ance I had made up my min' aboot +that, I jist began followin' at her again like a hungry tyke that stops +the minute ye liuk roon efter him--I mean i' my thochts, ye ken--jist +as I had been followin' her, a' the time o' my fiver, throu the halls +o' heaven, as I thoucht them, whan they war only the sma' +crinkle-crankle convolutions o' my cerebral dome--a puir heaven for a +man to bide in! I hae learnt that waur and better than maist men, as +I'm gaein to tell ye; for it was for the sake o' that that I begud this +dismal story.--Whan I grew some better, and wan up--wad ye believe +'t?--the kin'ness o' the auld, warpit, broon, wrinklet woman that +brocht me furth, me Cosmo Cupples, wi' the muckle hert and the sma' +body, began to console me a wee for the lauch o' that queen o' +white-skinned leddies. It was but a wee, ye ken; still it was +consolation. My mither thocht a heap o' me. Fowk thinks mair o' fowk, +the mair they are themsels. But I wat it was sma' honour I brocht her +hame, wi' my een brunt oot wi' greetin' for the mune.--I'll tell ye the +lave o' 't efter we win hame. I canna bide to be here i' the dark. It's +the quaiet beuks a' roon' me that I canna bide. It was i' the mids o' +beuks, i' the dark, that I heard that lauch. It jist blastit me and the +beuks and a' thing. They aye luik as gin they war hearin' 't. For the +first time I loot the gloamin come doon upo' me i' this same leebrary, +a' at ance I heard the sma' nicher o' a woman's lauch frae somewhaur in +or oot o' the warl'. I grew as het's hell, and was oot at the door in a +cat-loup. And as sure's death I'll hear't again, gin I bide ae minute +langer. Come oot wi' ye." + +There was light in Mr Fraser's drawing-room, and a shadow flitted +across the blind. The frosty night, and the keenness of the stars, made +Mr Cupples shiver. Alec was in a feverous glow. When they reached home, +Mr Cupples went straight to the cupboard, swallowed a glass of the +_merum_, put coals on the fire, drew his chair close to it, and said: + +"It's dooms cauld! Sit doon there, bantam. Pit on the kettle first. +It's an ac' o' the purest disinteresstitness, for deil a drap sall ye +drink! But I'll sing ye a sang, by way o' upmak'." + +"I never heard ye sing, Mr Cupples. Ye can do a' thing, I think." + +"I cudna gar a bonnie, high-born, white-handit leddy fa' in love wi' a +puir futteret (weasel) o' a crater--a shargar (scrag) like Cosmo +Cupples, bantam. But I can do twa or three things; an' ane o' them is, +I can mak' a sang; and anither is, I can mak' a tune till't; and a +third is, I can sing the tane to the tither, that is whan I haena had +either ower muckle or ower little o' the tappit hen. Noo, heark ye. +This ane's a' my ain: + +GAEIN' AND COMIN'. + + Whan Andrew frae Strathbogie gaed, + The lift was lowerin' dreary; + The sun he wadna lift his heid; + The win' blew laich and eerie. + In's pouch he had a plack or twa, + I vow he hadna mony; + Yet Andrew like a lintie sang, + For Lizzie was sae bonny! + + O Lizzie, Lizzie, bonnie lassie! + Bonnie, saucy hizzie! + What richt had ye to luik at me, + And drive me daft and dizzy? + + Whan Andrew to Strathbogie cam', + The sun was shinin' rarely; + He rade a horse that pranced and sprang-- + I vow he sat him fairly. + And he had gowd to spend and spare, + And a heart as true as ony; + But's luik was doon, and his sigh was sair, + For Lizzie was sae bonny! + + O Lizzie, Lizzie, bonny hizzie! + Ye've turned the daylicht dreary. + Ye're straucht and rare, ye're fause and fair-- + Hech! auld John Armstrong's dearie!" + +His voice was mellow, and ought to have been even. His expression was +perfect. + +The kettle was boiling. Mr Cupples made his toddy, and resumed his +story. + +"As sune's I was able, I left my mither greitin'--God bless her!--and +cam to this toon, for I wasna gaein' to be eaten up with idleset as +weel's wi' idolatry. The first thing I tuik till was teachin'. Noo +that's a braw thing, whan the laddies and lassies want to learn, and +hae questons o' their ain to speir. But whan they dinna care, it's the +verra deevil. Or lang, a'thing grew grey. I cared for naething and +naebody. My verra dreams gaed frae me, or cam only to torment me, wi' +the reid hert o' them changed to yallow and grey. + +"Weel, ae nicht I had come hame worn oot wi' warstlin' to gar bairns +eat that had no hunger, I spied upo' the table a bottle o' whusky. A +frien' o' mine--a grocer he was--had sent it across the street to me, +for it was hard upo' Hogmanay. I rang the bell incontinent. Up comes +the lass, and says I, 'Bell, lat's hae a kettlefu' o' het water.' And +to mak' a lang story short, I could never want het water sin syne. For +I hadna drunken aboon a twa glaiss, afore the past began to revive as +gin ye had come ower't wi' a weet sponge. A' the colours cam' oot upo' +'t again, as gin they had never turned wan and grey; and I said to +mysel' wi' pride: 'My leddy canna, wi' a' her breedin' and her bonnie +skin, haud Cosmo Cupples frae lo'ein' her.' And I followed aboot at her +again throu a' the oots and ins o' the story, and the past was restored +to me.--That's hoo it appeared to me that nicht.--Was't ony wonner that +the first thing I did whan I cam' hame the neist nicht was to ring for +the het water? I wantit naething frae Providence or Natur' but jist +that the colour michtna be a' ta'en oot o' my life. The muckle deevil +was in't, that I cudna stan' up to my fate like a man, and, gin my life +was to cast the colour, jist tak my auld cloak aboot me, and gang on +content. But I cudna. I bude to see things bonnie, or my strength gaed +frae me. But ye canna slink in at back doors that gait. I was pitten +oot, and oot I maun bide. It wasna that lang afore I began to discover +that it was a' a delusion and a snare. Whan I fell asleep, I wad dream +whiles that, openin' the door into ane o' thae halls o' licht, there +she was stan'in' lauchin' at me. And she micht hae gane on lauchin' to +a' eternity--for onything I cared. And--ten times waur--I wad whiles +come upon her greitin' and repentin', and haudin' oot her han' to me, +and me carin' no more for her than for the beard o' a barley-stalk. And +for makin' a sang--I jist steikit my lugs (stopped my ears) whan I +heard a puir misguidit canary singin' i' the sunshine. And I begud to +hear a laich lauch far awa', and it cam' nearer and nearer ilka week, +till it was ringin' i' my verra lug. But a' that was naething +compairateevely. I' the mids o' a quaiet contemplation, suddenly, wi' +an awfu' stoon, a ghaistly doobt pat it's heid up i' my breist, and +cried: 'It's a' fause. The grey luik o' life's the true ane, and the +only aspec' ye hae a richt to see.' And efter that, a' the whusky in +Glenlivat cudna console me.--Luik at me noo. Ye see what I am. I can +whiles sing an auld sang--but mak' a new ane!--Lord, man! I can hardly +believe 'at ever I made a sang i' my life. Luik at my han' hoo it +trimles. Luik at my hert. It's brunt oot. There's no a leevin' crater +but yersel' that I hae ony regaird for, sin my auld mither deid. Gin it +warna for buiks, I wad amaist cut my throat. And the senawtus disna +think me bye and aboon half a proper companion for buiks even; as gin +Cupples micht corrup' Milton himsel, although he was ten feet ower his +heid bottled in a buik. And whan I saw ye poor oot the whusky in that +mad-like mainner, as gin 't had been some sma' tipple o' penny ale, it +jist drave me mad wi' anger." + +"Weel, Mr Cupples," Alec ventured to say, "what for dinna ye sen' the +bottle to the devil?" + +"What, my ain auld tappit hen!" exclaimed Mr Cupples, with a sudden +reaction from the seriousness of his late mood; "Na, na, she shanna +gang to the deil till we gang thegither. Eh! but we'll baith hae dry +insides or we win frae him again, I doobt. That drouth's an awfu' thing +to contemplate. But speyk o' giein' ower the drink! The verra +attemp'--an' dinna ye think that I haena made it--aich! What for sud I +gang to hell afore my time? The deils themselves compleen o' that. Na, +na. Ance ye hae learned to drink, ye _canna_ do wantin' 't. Man, dinna +touch 't. For God's sake, for yer mither's sake, for _ony_ sake, dinna +lat a drap o' the hell-broth gang ower yer thrapple--or ye're damned +like me for ever and ever. It's as guid's signin' awa' yer sowl wi' yer +ain han' and yer ain blude." + +Mr Cupples lifted his glass, emptied it, and, setting it down on the +table with a gesture of hatred, proceeded to fill it yet again. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXI. + + +"I say, Forbes, you keep yourself all to yourself and old Cupples, away +there in the new town. Come and take some supper with me to-night. It's +my birthday, old boy." + +"I don't do much in that way, you know, Gibby." + +"Oh yes, I know. You're never jolly but amongst the shell-fish. At +least that's what the Venall thinks of you. But for once in a way you +might come." + +"Well, I don't mind," said Alec, really not caring what came to him or +of him, and glad of anything to occupy him with no-thinking. "When +shall I come?" + +"At seven. We'll have a night of it. To-morrow's Saturday." + +It was hardly worth while to go home. He would not dine to-day. He +would go and renew his grief by the ever-grieving sea. For his was a +young love, and his sorrow was interesting to him: he embalmed his +pangs in the amber of his consciousness. So he crossed the links to the +desolate sandy shore; there let the sound of the waves enter the +portals of his brain and fill all its hollow caves with their moaning; +and then wandering back to the old city, stood at length over the +keystone of the bridge, and looked down into the dark water below the +Gothic arch. + +He heard a footstep behind him on the bridge. Looking round he saw +Beauchamp. Without reason or object, he walked up to him and barred his +way. Beauchamp started, and drew back. + +"Beauchamp," said Alec, "you are my devil." + +"Granted," said Beauchamp, coolly, but on his guard. + +"What are you about with my cousin?" + +"What is that to you?" + +"She is my cousin." + +"I don't care. She's not mine." + +"If you play her false, as you have played me--by heavens!--" + +"Oh! I'll be very kind to her. You needn't be afraid. I only wanted to +take down your damned impudence. You may go to her when you like." + +Alec's answer was a blow, which Beauchamp was prepared for and avoided. +Alec pursued the attack with a burning desire to give him the +punishment he deserved. But he turned suddenly sick, and, although he +afterwards recalled a wrestle, knee to knee, the first thing he was +aware of was the cold waters of the river closing over him. The shock +restored him. When he rose to the surface he swam down the stream, for +the banks were precipitous in the neighbourhood of the bridge. At +length he succeeded in landing, and set out for home. He had not gone +far, however, before he grew very faint, and had to sit down on a +door-step. Then he discovered that his arm was bleeding, and knew that +Beauchamp had stabbed him. He contrived to tie it up after a fashion, +and reached home without much more difficulty. Mr Cupples had not come +in. So he got his landlady to tie up his arm for him, and then changed +his clothes. Fortunately the wound, although long and deep, ran +lengthways between the shoulder and elbow, on the outside of the arm, +and so was not of a serious character. After he was dressed, feeling +quite well, he set off to keep his engagement with Gilbert Gordon. + +Now how could such a thing have taken place in the third decade of the +nineteenth century?--The parapet was low and the struggle was fierce. I +do not think that Beauchamp intended murder, for the consequences of +murder must be a serious consideration to every gentleman. He came of a +wild race, with whom a word and a steel blow had been linked for ages. +And habits transmitted become instincts. He was of a cold temperament, +and such a nature, once roused, is often less under control than one +used to excitement: a saint will sometimes break through the bonds of +the very virtue which has gained him all his repute. If we combine +these considerations with the known hatred of Beauchamp, the story Alec +told Cupples the next day may become in itself credible. Whether +Beauchamp tried to throw him from the bridge may remain doubtful, for +when the bodies of two men are locked in the wrestle of hate, their own +souls do not know what they intend. Beauchamp must have sped home with +the conscience of a murderer; and yet when Alec made his appearance in +the class, most probably a revival of hatred was his first mental +experience. But I have had no opportunity of studying the morbid +anatomy of Beauchamp, and I do not care about him, save as he +influences the current of this history. When he vanishes, I shall be +glad to forget him. + +Soon after Alec had left the house, Cupples came home with a hurried +inquiry whether the landlady had seen anything of him. She told him as +much as she knew, whereupon he went up-stairs to his Aeschylus, &c. + +Alec said nothing about his adventure to any of his friends, for, like +other Scotchmen young and old, he liked to keep things in his own hands +till he knew what to do with them. At first, notwithstanding his loss +of blood, he felt better than he had felt for some time; but in the +course of the evening he grew so tired, and his brain grew so muddy and +brown, that he was glad when he heard the order given for the boiling +water. He had before now, although Mr Cupples had never become aware of +the fact, partaken of the usual source of Scotch exhilaration, and had +felt nothing the worse; and now heedless of Mr Cupples's elaborate +warning--how could he be expected to mind it?--he mixed himself a +tumbler eagerly. But although the earth brightened up under its +influences, and a wider horizon opened about him than he had enjoyed +for months before, yet half-frightened at the power of the beverage +over his weakened frame, he had conscience enough to refuse a second +tumbler, and rose early and went home. + +The moment he entered the garret, Mr Cupples, who had already consumed +his nightly portion, saw that he had been drinking. He looked at him +with blue eyes, wide-opened, dismay and toddy combining to render them +of uncertain vision. + +"Eh, bantam! bantam!" he said, and sank back in his chair; "ye hae been +at it in spite o' me." + +And Mr Cupples burst into silent tears--no unusual phenomenon in men +under the combined influences of emotion and drink. Notwithstanding his +own elevated condition, Alec was shocked. + +"Mr Cupples," he said, "I want to tell you all about it." + +Mr Cupples took no notice. Alec began his story notwithstanding, and as +he went on, his friend became attentive, inserting here and there an +expletive to the disadvantage of Beauchamp, whose behaviour with regard +to Kate he now learned for the first time. When Alec had finished, +Cupples said solemnly: + +"I warned ye against him, Alec. But a waur enemy nor Beauchamp has +gotten a sickerer haud o' ye, I doobt. Do 'at he like, Beauchamp's dirk +couldna hurt ye sae muckle as yer ain han', whan ye liftit the first +glass to yer ain mou' the nicht. Ye hae despised a' my warnings. And +sorrow and shame'll come o' 't. And I'll hae to beir a' the wyte o' 't. +Yer mither'll jist hate me like the verra black taed that no woman can +bide. Gang awa' to yer bed. I canna bide the sicht o' ye." + +Alec went to bed, rebuked and distressed. But not having taken enough +to hurt him much, he was unfortunately able, the next morning, to +regard Mr Cupples's lecture from a ludicrous point of view. And what +danger was he in more than the rest of the fellows, few of whom would +refuse a tumbler of toddy, and fewer of whom were likely to get +drunk?--Had not Alec been unhappy, he would have been in less danger +than most of them; but he was unhappy. + +And although the whisky had done him no great immediate injury, yet its +reaction, combined with the loss of blood, made him restless all that +day. So that, when the afternoon came, instead of going to Mr Cupples +in the library, he joined some of the same set he had been with the +evening before. And when he came home, instead of going up-stairs to Mr +Cupples, he went straight to bed. + +The next morning, while he was at breakfast, Mr Cupples made his +appearance in his room. + +"What cam' o' ye last nicht, bantam?" he asked kindly, but with evident +uneasiness. + +"I cam' hame some tired, and gaed straucht to my bed." + +"But ye warna hame verra ear'." + +"I wasna that late." + +"Ye hae been drinkin' again. I ken by the luik o' yer een." + +Alec had a very even temper. But a headache and a sore conscience +together were enough to upset it. To be out of temper with oneself is +to be out of temper with the universe. + +"Did my mother commission you to look after me, Mr Cupples?" he asked, +and could have dashed his head against the wall the next moment. But +the look of pitying and yet deprecating concern in Mr Cupples's face +fixed him so that he could say nothing. + +Mr Cupples turned and walked slowly away, with only the words: + +"Eh! bantam! bantam! The Lord hae pity upo' ye--and me too!" + +He went out at the door bowed like an old man. + +"Preserve's, Mr Cupples! What ails ye?" exclaimed his landlady meeting +him in the passage. + +"The whusky's disagreed wi' me," he said. "It's verra ill-faured o' 't. +I'm sure I pay't ilka proper attention." + +Then he went down the stairs, murmuring-- + +"Rainbows! Rainbows! Naething for me but rainbows! God help the +laddie!" + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXII. + + +It may appear strange to some of my renders that Alec should fall into +this pit immediately upon the solemn warning of his friend. He had +listened to the story alone; he had never felt the warning: he had +never felt the danger. Had he not himself in his own hands? He was not +fond of whisky. He could take it or leave it. And so he took it; and +finding that there was some comfort in it, took it again and again, +seeking the society in which it was the vivifying element.--Need I +depict the fine gradations by which he sank--gradations though fine yet +so numerous that, in a space of time almost too brief for credit, the +bleared eye, the soiled garments, and the disordered hair, would reveal +how the night had been spent, and the clear-browed boy looked a sullen, +troubled, dissatisfied youth? The vice had laid hold of him like a +fast-wreathing, many-folded serpent. He had never had any conscious +religion. His life had never looked up to its source. All that was good +in him was good of itself, not of him. So it was easy to go down, with +grief staring at him over the edge of the pit. All return to the unific +rectitude of a manly life must be in the face of a scorching past and a +dank future--and those he could not face. + +And as his life thus ebbed away from him, his feelings towards +Beauchamp grew more and more bitter, approximating in character to +those of Beauchamp towards him. And he soon became resolved to have his +revenge on him, though it was long before he could make up his mind as +to what the revenge should be. + +Beauchamp avoided him constantly. + +And Mr Cupples was haunting him unseen. The strong-minded, wise-headed, +weak-willed little poet, wrapped in a coat of darkness, dogged the +footsteps of a great handsome, good-natured, ordinary-gifted wretch, +who _could_ never make him any return but affection, and had now +withdrawn all interchange of common friendship in order that he might +go the downward road unchecked. Cupples was driven almost distracted. +He drank harder than ever, but with less satisfaction than ever, for he +only grew the more miserable. He thought of writing to Alec's mother, +but, with the indecision of a drunkard, he could not make up his mind, +and pondered over every side of the question, till he was lost in a +maze of incapacity. + +Bad went to worse. Vice grew upon vice. + +There are facts in human life which human artists cannot touch. The +great Artist can weave them into the grand whole of his Picture, but to +the human eye they look too ugly and too painful. Even the man who can +do the deeds dares not represent them. Mothers have to know such facts +of their sons, and such facts of women like themselves. + +Alec had fallen amongst a set of men who would not be satisfied till he +should be as low as they--till there should be nothing left in him to +remind them that they had once been better. The circle in which he +began to drink had gradually contracted about him. The better sort had +fallen away, and the worse had remained--chiefly older men than he, men +who had come near to the enjoyment of vileness for its own sake, if +that be possible, and who certainly enjoyed making others like +themselves. Encouraged by their laughter and approbation, Alec began to +emulate them, and would soon have had very little to learn if things +had not _taken a turn_. A great hand is sometimes laid even on the +fly-wheel of life's engine. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXIII. + + +Andrew Constable, with his wife and old-fashioned child Isie, was +seated at tea in the little parlour opening from the shop, when he was +called out by a customer. He remained longer than was likely to be +accounted for by the transaction of business at that time of the day. +And when he returned his honest face looked troubled. + +"Wha was that?" asked his wife. + +"Ow! it was naebody but Jeames Johnston, wantin' a bit o' flannin for's +wife's coatie." + +"And what had he to say 'at keepit ye till yer tay's no fit to drink?" + +"Ow! my tay'll do weel eneuch. It's nae by ordinar' cauld." + +"But what said he?" + +"Weel! hm! hm!--He said it was fine frosty weather." + +"Ay, nae doobt! He kent that by the way the shuttle flew. Was that a'?" + +"Na, nae freely. But cogues hae lugs, and bairns hae muckle een." + +For Isie sat on her stool staring at her father and mother alternately, +and watching for the result of her mother's attempt at picking the lock +of her father's reticence. But the moment she heard the word _lugs_, +she knew that she had no chance, and her eyes grew less and their +pupils grew larger. Fearing he had hurt her, Andrew said, + +"Winna ye hae a starnie jam, Isie? It's grosert-jam." + +"Na, thank ye, daddie. Maybe it wad gie me a sair wame," answered the +solemn old-faced Scotchwoman of seven. + +A child who refuses jam lest it should serve her as the little book did +the Apostle John, might be considered prudent enough to be intrusted +with a secret. But not a word more was said on the subject, till Isie +was in bed, and supposed to be fast asleep, in a little room that +opened off the parlour. But she was not asleep. And the door was always +left open, that she might fall asleep in the presence of her parents. +Their words therefore flowed freely into her ears, although the meaning +only played on her mind with a dull glimmer like that which played on +her wall from the fire in the room where they sat talking. + +"Ay, woman," began Andrew, "it'll be sair news, this, to the lady ower +the watter." + +"Ye dinna mean Mistress Forbes, Anerew?" + +"'Deed I mean jist her." + +"Is't her son? Has he met wi' ony mischeef? What's happent till him? Is +he droont, or killt? The Lord preserve's! She'll dee o' 't." + +"Na, lass. It's a hantle waur nor a' that." + +The woodcuts in Fox's _Book of Martyrs_, of which three folio volumes +in black letter lay in the room whence the conversation flowed to +Isie's ears, rose in all their hideousuess before the mental vision of +the child. In no other way than as torture could she conceive of worse +than being killed. + +"Ye gar me grue," said Mrs Constable, with a shudder. + +"Ay, woman, ye ken little o' the wickedness o' great toons--hoo they +lie in wait at ilka corner, wi' their gins and their snares and their +pits that they howk to catch the unwary yowth," said Andrew, in +something of the pride of superior knowledge. + +From this elevation, however, he was presently pulled down in a rather +ignominious fashion by his more plain-spoken though not a whit more +honest wife. + +"Anerew, dinna ye mint (aim) at speikin' like a chapter o' the Proverbs +o' Solomon, the son o' Dawvid. Say straucht oot 'at thae coorse jawds +that hing aboot i' the gloamin' hae gotten a grip o' the bonnie lad. +Eh! but he'll fair ill; and the Lord hae mercy upo' him--and nane upo' +them!" + +"Hoot! hoot! lass; dinna speik wi' sic a venom. Ye ken wha says +_Vengeance is mine_?" + +"Ay, ay, weel eneuch. And I houp He'll tak's ain upo' sic brazen +hizzies. You men-fowk think ye ken a hantle o' things that ye wad haud +us ohn kent. But nane kens the wiles o' a wumman, least awa them 'at +fa's into them, but anither wumman." + +"It's nae savin' lore," said Andrew, a little troubled that his wife +should assert a familiar acquaintance with such things. But she went +on. + +"Women's jist dreidfu'. Whan ance they gang the ill gait, they're +neither to haud nor bin'. And to think o' them layin' han's upo' sic a +bonnie weel-behaved laddie as that Alec Forbes, a ceevil, herty cratur, +wi' a kin' word an' a joke even for the beggar 'at he geid a bawbee +till! Weel, he'll come oot o' their cluiks, maybe no that nmckle the +waur efter a', as mony a man frae King Dawvid doonwith afore him." + +"Noo, wumman!" said Andrew, in a tone of authority blended with rising +indignation; "ye're slidin' aff o' yer ain stule, and ye'll be upo' the +grun' afore ye win on to mine. Richt or wrang aboot the women, I bude +to ken mair aboot the men nor ye do; and I daur affirm and uphaud that +never man cam' oot o' the grip o' thae poor deluded craters--" + +Mrs Constable interposed with one single emphatic epithet, not +admittable to the ears of this generation; but Andrew resumed, and went +on. + +"--poor deluded craters, withoot losin' a great pairt o' what was left +in him o' the eemage o' God efter the fall. Woman, he tynes (loses) a +heap!" + +"Hoo sud ye ken onything aboot that, Anerew?" returned his wife +sharply. + +"The same way than ye ken sae weel aboot the she side o' the queston, +lass. We may jist enlichten ane anither a wee aboot some things, +mayhap." + +Meantime the ears of the little pitcher in bed had been growing longer +and longer with curious horror. The something in itself awfully vague +about Alec's fate was wrapt in yet deeper clouds of terror and mystery +by the discord of opinion with regard to it on the part of her father +and mother, whom she had rarely heard differ. She pictured to herself +the image of his Maker being scratched off Alec by the claws of furies; +and hot pincers tearing nail after nail from the hand which had once +given her a penny. And her astonishment was therefore paralyzing when +she heard her father say: + +"But ye maun haud a quaiet tongue i' yer heid, guidwife; for weel as ye +like the laddie, ye may blast his character gin ye say a word aboot +it." + +"I s' warran' it's a' ower Glamerton afore it comes to your lugs, +Anerew," returned her mother. "They're no that gleg efter sic news. But +I wad like sair to ken wha sent hame the word o' 't." + +"I'm thinking it's been young Bruce." + +"The Lord be praised for a lee!" exclaimed Mrs Constable. "Haena I +tell't ye afore noo, sae that it's no upmak to pick the lock o' the +occasion, Anerew, that Rob Bruce has a spite at that faimily for takin' +sic a heap o' notice o' Annie Annerson. And I wadna wonner gin he had +set's hert upo' merryin' her upo' 's ain Rob, and sae keepin' her bit +siller i' the faimily. Gin that be sae, he micht weel gie Alec Forbes a +back-handit cloot (blow)." + +"'Deed! maybe, gudewife. He's a burnin' and a shinin' licht amo' you +missioners, though; and ye maunna say ill o' 'm, for fear he has ye up +afore the kirk." + +"Ay, deed is he! He's a burnin' shame, and a stinkin' lamp; for the +grace o' God wasna hauden to the nib o' 'm lang eneuch to set him in a +low (flame), but only lang eneuch to gar the ile o' 'm reek fit to +scomfish (suffocate) a haill Sodom." + +"Hoot, lass! Ye're ower sair even upo' him. But it's verra true that +gin the story cam' frae that en' o' the toon, there's room for +rizzonable doobts. Sae we'll awa' to our beds, and houp things mayna be +sae far gane as the soun' o' them. Only I drede there's aye some water +whaur the stirkie droons." + +It was long before little Isie got to sleep, what with attempting to +realize the actual condition of Alec Forbes, and trying to excogitate +the best means for his deliverance. Why should not all Glamerton set +out in a body with flails and pitchforks? And if she must not meddle +for that, seeing her father had said the matter must not be mentioned, +yet his prohibition could not include Alec's mother, whom it would be +wicked to keep in ignorance. For what would Isie think if she was taken +prisoner by a cruel woman and they would not tell her mother? So she +fell asleep, to wake in the morning with the sense of a mission upon +her important little mind. + +What rendered it probable that the rumour came from "that end of the +town" was, that Bruce the younger was this year a bejan at Alec's +college, and besides was the only other scion of Glamerton there +grafted, so that any news about Alec other than he would care to send +himself, must in all likelihood have come through him.--For Bruce the +elder had determined that in his son he would restore the fallen +fortunes of the family, giving him such an education as would entitle +him to hold up his head with the best, and especially with that proud +upstart, Alec Forbes. + +The news had reached Thomas Crann, and filled him with concern. He had, +as was his custom in trouble, betaken himself straightway to "the +throne of grace," and "wrestled in prayer" with God that he would +restore the prodigal to his mother. What would Thomas have thought if +he had been told that his anxiety, genuine as it was, that his love, +true as it was, did not come near the love and anxiety of another man +who spent his evenings in drinking whisky and reading heathen poets, +and who, although he knew not a little of his Bible, never opened it +from one end of the year to the other? If he had been told that Cosmo +Cupples had more than once, after the first tumbler of toddy and before +the second, betaken himself to his prayers for his poor Alec Forbes, +and entreated God Almighty to do for him what he could not do, though +he would die for him--to rescue him from the fearful pit and the miry +clay of moral pollution--if he had heard this, he would have said that +it was a sad pity, but such prayers could not be answered, seeing he +that prayed was himself in the gall of bitterness and the bond of +iniquity. + +There was much shaking of the head amongst the old women. Many an +ejaculation and many a meditative _eh me_! were uttered over Alec's +fall; and many a word of tender pity for his poor mother floated forth +on the frosty air of Glamerton; but no one ventured to go and tell the +dreary tidings. The men left it to the women; and the woman knew too +well how the bearer of such ill news would appear in her eyes, to +venture upon the ungracious task. So they said to themselves she must +know it just as well as they did; or if she did not know, poor woman! +she would know time enough for all the good it would do her. And that +came of sending sons to colleges! &c., &c. + +But there was just one not so easily satisfied about the extent of her +duties: that was little Isie Constable. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXIV. + + +The tertians gave a supper at Luckie Cumstie's, and invited the +magistrands. On such an occasion Beauchamp, with his high sense of his +own social qualities, would not willingly be absent. When the hour +arrived, he took his place near the head of the table. + +After all the solid and a part of the liquid entertainment was over, +Alec rose in the space between two toasts, and said: + +"Mr Chairman and gentlemen, I propose, at my own proper cost, to +provide something for your amusement." + +Beauchamp and all stared at the speaker. + +"It is to be regretted," Alec went on, "that students have no court of +honour to which to appeal. This is the first opportunity I have had of +throwing myself on the generosity of my equals, and asking them to +listen to my story." + +The interest of the company was already roused. All the heads about the +long table leaned towards the speaker, and cries of _hear, hear_, arose +in all directions. Alec then gave a brief statement of the facts of the +encounter upon the bridge. This was the only part of his relations with +Beauchamp which he chose to bring before the public; for the greater +wrong of lying defamation involved his cousin's name. He told how +Beauchamp had sought the encounter by deliberate insult, had used a +weapon against an unarmed enemy, and then thrown him from the bridge. + +"Now," he concluded, "all I ask of you, gentlemen, is to allow me the +fair arena of your presence while I give this sneaking chieftain the +personal chastisement which he has so richly merited at my hands." + +Beauchamp had soon recovered his self-possession after the first +surprise of the attack. He sat drinking his toddy all the time Alec +spoke, and in the middle of his speech he mixed himself another +tumbler. When Alec sat down, he rose, glanced round the assembly, bent +his lip into its most scornful curves, and, in a clear, unwavering +voice, said: + +"Mr Chairman and gentlemen, I repel the accusation." + +Alec started to his feet in wrath. + +"Mr Forbes, sit down," bawled the chairman; and Alec obeyed, though +with evident reluctance. + +"I say the accusation is false," repeated Beauchamp. "I do not say that +Mr Forbes consciously invented the calumny in order to take away my +character: such an assertion would preclude its own credence. Nor do I +venture to affirm that he never was stabbed, or thrown into the river. +But I ask any gentleman who happens to be aware of Mr Forbes's +devotions at the shrine of Father Lyaeus, which is the more +likely--that a fellow-student should stab and throw him into the water, +or that, as he was reeling home at midnight, the treacherous divinity +of the bowl should have handed him over to the embrace of his brother +deity of the river. Why then should even his imagination fix upon me as +the source of the injury? Gentlemen, a foolish attachment to the +customs of a long line of ancestors has led me into what I find for the +first time to be a dangerous habit--that of wearing arms;--dangerous, I +mean, to myself; for now I am wounded with my own weapon. But the real +secret of the affair is--I am ashamed to say--jealousy. Mr Forbes knows +what I say to be true--that a lady whom he loves prefers me to him." + +"Don't bring her name in, you brute!" roared Alec, starting again to +his feet, "or I'll tear your tongue out." + +"You hear, gentlemen," said Beauchamp, and sat down. + +A murmur arose. Heads gathered into groups. No one stood up. Alec felt +with the deepest mortification that his adversary's coolness and his +own violence had turned the scale against him. This conviction, +conjoined with the embarrassment of not knowing how to say a word in +his own defence without taking some notice of the close of his +adversary's speech, fixed him to his seat. For he had not yet fallen so +low as to be capable of even alluding to the woman he loved in such an +assembly. He would rather abandon the field to his adversary. + +Probably not many seconds had passed, but his situation was becoming +intolerable, when a well-known voice rose clear above the confused +murmur; and glancing to the lower end of the room, he saw Cosmo Cupples +standing at the end of the table. + +"I ken weel eneuch, gentlemen," he said, "that I hae no richt to be +here. Ye a' ken me by the sicht o' the een. I'm a graduate o' this +university, and at present your humble servant the librarian. I intrude +for the sake o' justice, and I cast mysel' upo' your clemency for a +fair hearin'." + +This being accorded by general acclamation, + +"Gentlemen," he resumed, "I stan' afore ye wi' a sair hert. I hae +occupied the position o' tutor to Mr Forbes; for, as Sir Pheelip Sidney +says in a letter to his brither Rob, wha was efterwards Yerl o' +Leicester upo' the demise o' Robert Dudley, 'Ye may get wiser men nor +yersel' to converse wi' ye and instruck ye, in ane o' twa ways--by +muckle ootlay or muckle humility.' Noo, that laddie was ane o' the +finest naturs I ever cam' across, and his humility jist made it a +pleesur to tak' chairge o' 'm baith mentally and morally. That I had a +sair doon come whan he took to the drink, I am forced to confess. But I +aye thocht he was strauchtforet, notwithstandin' the whusky. I wasna +prepared for sic a doonfa' as this.--I maun jist confess, Mr Cheerman, +that I heard him throu' the crack o' the door-cheek. And he broucht sic +deevilich accusations--" + +"Mr Cupples!" cried Alec. + +"Haud yer tongue, Alec Forbes, and lat this company hear me. Ye +appealed to the company yersel' first o' a'.--I say hoo cud he bring +sic deevilich accusations against a gentleman o' sic birth and breedin' +and accomplishments as the Laird o' Chattachan!--Maybe the Laird wad +jist condescend to say whaur he was upo' the nicht in queston; for gin +we cud get the rampaugin' misguidit laddie ance fairly into the yard, +wi' the yetts steekit (gates closed), he wad see that leein' wadna +serve his turn." + +Alec was in chaotic confusion. Notwithstanding the hard words Mr +Cupples had used, he could ill believe that he had turned his enemy. He +had behaved very badly to Mr Cupples, but was Mr Cupples one to revenge +himself? + +Mr Cupples had paused with his eyes resting on Beauchamp. He, without +rising, replied carelessly: + +"Really, sir, I do not keep a register of my goings and comings. I +might have done so had I known its importance. I have not even been +informed when the occurrence is said to have taken place." + +"I can gie your memory a prod upo' the dates, sir. For I ken weel the +nicht whan Alec Forbes cam' hame wi' a lang and a deep cut upo' the +ootside o' 's left airm atween the shouther an' the elbuck. I may weel +remember 't to my grief; for though he cam' hame as sober as he was +drippin' weet--I hae oor guidwife's testimony to that--he gaed oot +again, and whan he cam' hame ance mair, he was the waur o' drink for +the first time sin' ever I kent him. Noo, sir, it a' took place the +same day that ye cam' to the leebrary, and tuik awa' wi' ye a novell +ca'd _Aiken Drum_. I tauld ye it wad ill repay ye, for it was but a +fule thing. And I remember 't the better that I was expeckin' Alec +Forbes in ilka minute, and I was feared for a collieshangie (outbreak) +atween ye." + +"I remember all about that night perfectly, now you call it to my +recollection. I went straight home, and did not go out again--I was so +taken up with _Aiken Drum_." + +"I tell't ye sae!" cried Cupples, triumphantly. "Wha wadna tak' the +word o' The MacChattachan? There's sma' profit in addin' my testimony +to the weight o' that; but I wad jist like to tell this company, Mr +Cheerman and gentlemen, hoo I cam' to ken mair aboot the affair nor my +frien' Alec Forbes is awar' o'. That same efternoon, I expeckit him i' +the leebrary as I hae said, and whan he didna come, I took my hat--that +was about a half-hoor efter the laird left me--and gaed oot to luik for +him. I gaed ower the links; for my man had the profitless habit at that +time, whilk he's gien up for a mair profitless still, o' stravaguin' +aboot upo' the seashore, wi' 's han's in 's pooches, and his chin +reposin' upo' the third button o' 's waistcoat--all which bears hard +upo' what the laird says aboot's jealousy. The mune was jist risin' by +the time I wan to the shore, but I saw no sign o' man or woman alang +that dreary coast. I was jist turnin' to come hame again, whan I cam' +upo' tracks i' the weet san'. And I kent the prent o' the fit, and I +followed it on to the links again, and sae I gaed back at my leisure. +And it was sic a bonny nicht, though the mune wasna that far up, +drivin' lang shaidows afore her, that I thocht I wad jist gang ance +ower the brig and back again, and syne maybe turn into Luckie Cumstie's +here. But afore I wan to the brig, whan I was i' the shaidow o' Baillie +Bapp's hoose, I heard sic a scushlin' and a shochlin' upo' the brig! +and I saw something gang reelin' aboot; and afore I cud gaither my wits +and rin foret, I heard an awfu' splash i' the water; and by gangs +somebody wi' lang quaiet strides, and never saw me. He had on the kilts +and the lave o' the fandangles. And he turned into the quadrangle, and +throu't he gaed and oot at the corner o' 't. I was close ahint +him--that is, I was into the quadrangle afore he was oot o' 't. And I +saw the sacrist come oot at the door o' the astronomical tooer jist +afore the Hielanman turned the neuk o' 't. And I said to Thomson, says +I, 'Wha was that gaed by ye, and oot the back gait?' And says he, 'It +was Maister Beauchamp.' 'Are ye sure o' that?' says I. 'As sure's +deith,' says he. Ye ken William's phrase, gentlemen." + +Beauchamp's nonchalance had disappeared for some time. When his own +name came out, his cheeks grew deathly pale, and thin from the falling +of his jaw. Cupples, watching him, went on. + +"As sune's I was sure o' my man, I saw what a damned idiot I was to rin +efter him. And back I flew to the brig. I kent full weel wha the ither +man bude to be. It could be nane but my ain Alec Forbes; for I sweir to +ye, gentlemen, I hae watched The MacChattachan watchin' Alec Forbes +mair nor twa or three times sin' Alec throosh him for bein' foul-mou'd +i' the face o' the deid." + +By this time Beauchamp, having swallowed the rest of his tumbler at a +gulp, had recovered a little. He rose with defiance on his face. + +"Dinna lat him gang, gentlemen," cried Cupples, "till I tell ye ae +ither God's trowth.--I ran back to the brig, as hard's my legs cud +carry me, consolin' mysel' wi' the reflection that gin Alec had na been +sair hurtit i' the scuffle, there was no fear o' him. For I heard him +fa' clean into the water, and I kent ye micht as sune droon a herrin as +Alec Forbes. I ran richt to the mids' o' the brig and there was the +black heid o' him bobbin' awa' doon the water i' the hert o' the +munelicht. I'm terrible lang-sichtit, gentlemen. I canna sweir that I +saw the face o' 'm, seein' the back o' 's heid was to me; but that it +was Alec Forbes, I hae no more doobt than o' my ain existence. I was +jist turnin', nearhan' the greetin', for I lo'ed the laddie weel, whan +I saw something glintin' bonnie upo' the parapet o' the brig. And noo I +beg to restore't till'ts richtful owner. Wad ye pass't up the table, +gentlemen. Some o' ye will recogneeze't as ane o' the laird's bonnie +cairngorum-buttons." + +Handing the button to the man nearest him, Mr Cupples withdrew into a +corner, and leaned his back against the wall. The button made many a +zigzag from side to side of the table, but Beauchamp saw the yellow +gleam of it coming nearer and nearer. It seemed to fascinate him. At +last bursting the bonds of dismay, the blood rushed into his pale face, +and he again moved to go: + +"A conspiracy, gentlemen!" he cried. "You are all against me. I will +not trouble you longer with my presence. I will bide my time." + +"Stop a moment, Mr Beauchamp," said the chairman--the pale-faced son of +a burly ploughman--rising. "Your departure will scarcely satisfy us +now. Gentlemen, form yourselves in a double row, and grace the exit of +a disgrace. I leave it to yourselves to kick him or not as you may +think proper. But I think myself the way is to be merciful to the +confounded. Better leave him to his own conscience." + +Beauchamp's hand, following its foolish habit, fell upon the hilt of +his dirk. + +"Draw that dirk one inch," said the chairman hastily, clenching his +fist, "and I'll have you thrown on Luckie Cumstie's midden." + +Beauchamp's hand dropped. The men formed as directed. + +"Now," said the chairman sternly. + +And Beauchamp without a word marched down the long avenue white as a +ghost, and looking at nobody. Each made him a low bow as he passed, +except the wag of the tertians, who turned his back on him and bowed to +the universe in general. Mr Cupples was next the door, and bowed him +out. Alec alone stood erect. He could not insult him. + +Beauchamp's feelings I do not care to analyze. As he passes from that +room, he passes from my history.--I do not think a man with such an +unfavourable start, could arrive at the goal of repentance in this +life. + +"Mr Cupples," cried the chairman, "will you oblige us by spending the +rest of the evening with us?" + +"You do me mair honour nor I deserve, sir," replied Mr Cupples; "but +that villain Alec Forbes has cost me sae muckle in drink to haud my +hert up, that I winna drink in his company. I micht tak' ower muckle +and disgrace mysel' forbye. Good nicht to ye a', gentlemen, and my best +thanks." + +So saying, Mr Cupples left the room before Alec could get near him with +a word or a sign of gratitude. But sorry and ashamed as he was, his +spirits soon returned. Congratulation restored him to his worse self; +and ere long he felt that he had deserved well of the community. The +hostess turned him out with the last few at midnight, for one of the +professors was provost; and he went homewards with another student, who +also lived in the new town. + +The two, however, not having had enough of revelry yet, turned aside +into a lane, and thence up a court leading to a low public-house, which +had a second and worse reputation. Into this Alec's companion went. +Alec followed. But he was suddenly seized in the dark, and ejected with +violence. Recovering himself from his backward stagger into the court, +he raised his arm to strike. Before him stood a little man, who had +apparently followed him out of the public-house. His hands were in the +pockets of his trowsers, and the wind was blowing about the tails of +his old dress-coat. + +Nor was Alec too far gone to recognize him. + +"You, Mr Cupples!" he exclaimed. "I didna expect to see you here." + +"I never was across the door-sill o' sic a place afore," said Mr +Cupples, "nor, please God, will either you or me ever cross sic a +door-sill again." + +"Hooly, hooly, Mr Cupples! Speak for ane at a time. I'm gaein in this +minute. Luckie Cumstie turned on the caller air ower sune for me." + +"Man!" said Cupples, laying hold of Alec's coat, "think that ye hae a +mither. Ilka word that ye hear frae a worthless woman is an affront to +yer mither." + +"Dinna stan' preachin' to me. I'm past that." + +"Alec, ye'll wiss to God ye hadna, whan ye come to marry a bonnie +wife." + +It was a true but ill-timed argument. Alec flared up wildly. + +"Wife!" he cried, "there's no wife for me. Haud oot o' my gait. Dinna +ye see I hae been drinkin'? And I winna be contred." + +"Drinkin'!" exclaimed Mr Cupples. "Little ye ken aboot drinkin'. I hae +drunken three times as muckle as you. And gin that be ony argument for +me haudin' oot o' your gait, it's mair argument yet for you to haud oot +o' mine. I sweir to God I winna stan' this ony langer. Ye're to come +hame wi' me frae this mou' o' hell and ugsome (frightful) deith. It +gangs straucht to the everlastin' burnin's. Eh, man! to think nae mair +o' women nor _that_!" + +And the brave little man placed himself right between Alec and the +door, which now opened half-way, showing several peering and laughing +faces. + +But the opposition of Mr Cupples had increased the action of the +alcohol upon Alec's brain, and he blazed up in a fury at the notion of +being made a laughter to the women. He took one step towards Mr +Cupples, who had restored his hands to his pockets and backed a few +paces towards the door of the house, to guard against Alec's passing +him. + +"Haud oot o' my gait, or I'll gar ye," he said fiercely. + +"I will not," answered Mr Cupples, and lay senseless on the stones of +the court. + +Alec strode into the house, and the door closed behind him. + +By slow degrees Mr Cupples came to himself. He was half dead with cold, +and his head was aching frightfully. A pool of blood lay on the stones +already frozen. He crawled on his hands and knees, till he reached a +wall, by which he raised and steadied himself. Feeling along this wall, +he got into the street; but he was so confused and benumbed that if a +watchman had not come up, he would have died on some doorstep. The man +knew him and got him home. He allowed both him and his landlady to +suppose that his condition was the consequence of drink; and so was +helped up to his garret and put to bed. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXV. + + +All the night during which Isie Constable lay dreaming of racks, +pincers, screws, and Alec Forbes, the snow was busy falling outside, +shrouding the world once more; so that next day the child could not get +out upon any pretence. Had she succeeded in escaping from the house, +she might have been lost in the snow, or drowned in the Glamour, over +which there was as yet only a rude temporary bridge to supply the place +of that which had been swept away. But although very uneasy at the +obstruction of her projects, she took good care to keep her own +counsel.--The snow was very obstinate to go. At length, after many +days, she was allowed to go out with stockings over her shoes, and play +in the garden. No sooner was she alone, than she darted out of the +garden by the back-gate, and before her mother missed her, was crossing +the Glamour. She had never been so far alone, and felt frightened; but +she pushed bravely forward. + +Mrs Forbes and Annie Anderson were sitting together when Mary put her +head in at the door and told her mistress that the daughter of Mr +Constable, the clothier, wanted to see her. + +"Why, she's a mere infant, Mary!" exclaimed Mrs Forbes. + +"'Deed is she, mem; but she's nane the less doon the stair i' the +kitchie. Ye wad hae seen her come yersel' but she's ower wee. Ye cudna +get a glimp o' her ower the edge o' the snaw i' the cuttin' doon to the +yett. Hoo her fowk cud lat her oot! She's a puir wee white-faced elf o' +a crater, but she's byous auld-farrand and wise-like, and naething will +do but she maun see yersel', mem." + +"Bring her up, Mary. Poor little thing! What can she want?" + +Presently Isie entered the room, looking timidly about her. + +"Well, my dear, what do you want?" + +"It's aboot Alec, mem," said Isie, glancing towards Annie. + +"Well, what about him?" asked Mrs Forbes, considerably bewildered, but +not fearing bad news from the mouth of such a messenger. + +"Hae ye heard naething aboot him, mem?" + +"Nothing particular. I haven't heard from him for a fortnight." + +"That's easy accoontit for, mem." + +"What do you mean, my dear? Speak out." + +"Weel, mem, the way I heard it was raither particlar, and I wadna like +a'body to ken." + +Here she glanced again at Annie. + +"You needn't be afraid of Annie Anderson," said Mrs Forbes smiling. +"What is it?" + +"Weel, mem, I didna richtly ken. But they hae ta'en him intil a +dreidfu' place, and whether they hae left a haill inch o' skin upon's +body, is mair nor I can tell; but they hae rackit him, and pu'd o' 's +nails aff, maybe them a', and--" + +"Good heavens!" exclaimed Mrs Forbes, with a most unusual inclination +to hysterics, seeing something terrible peep from behind the grotesque +report of Isie, "what _do_ you mean, child?" + +"I'm tellin' ye't as I heard it, mem. I houp they haena brunt him yet. +Ye maun gang and tak' him oot o' their han's." + +"Whose hands, child? Who's doing all this to him?" + +"They stan' aboot the corners o' the streets, mem, in muckle toons, and +they catch a haud o' young laads, and they trail them awa' wi' them, +and they jist torment the life oot o' them. They say they're women; but +I dinna believe that. It's no possible. They maun be men dressed up in +women's claes." + +Was it a great relief to the mother's heart to find that the childish +understanding of Isie had misinterpreted and misrepresented? She rose +and left the room, and her troubled step went to and fro overhead. And +the spirit of Annie was troubled likewise. How much she understood, I +cannot determine; but I believe that a sense of vague horror and pity +overwhelmed her heart. Yet the strength of her kindness forced her to +pay some attention to the innocent little messenger of evil. + +"Whaur heard ye a' that, Isie, dear?" + +"I heard my father and my mither gaein' on lamentin' ower him efter I +was i' my bed, and they thocht I was asleep. But gin Mistress Forbes +winna tak' him awa', I'll gang and tell a' the ministers in Glamerton, +and see whether they winna raise the toon." + +Annie stared in amazement at the wee blue-eyed wizened creature before +her speaking with the decision of a minor prophet. + +"Is the child here still?" said Mrs Forbes with some asperity as she +re-entered the room. "I must go by the mail this afternoon, Annie." + +"That's richt, mem," said Isie. "The suner the better, I'm sure. He +mayna be deid yet." + +"What a very odd child!" said Mrs Forbes. + +"Wouldn't it be better to write first, ma'am?" suggested Annie. + +Before Mrs Forbes could reply, the white mutch of Mrs Constable +appeared over the top of the snow that walled the path. She was in hot +pursuit of her child, whose footsteps she had traced. When shown into +the dining-room, she rushed up to her, and caught her to her bosom, +crying, + +"Ye ill-contrived smatchit! What hae ye been aboot, rinnin' awa' this +gait? I wonner ye wasna droont i' the Glamour." + +"I don't see what better you could expect of your own child, Mrs +Constable, if you go spreading reports against other people's +children," said Mrs Forbes bitterly. + +"It's a lee whaever said sae," retorted Mrs Constable fiercely. "Wha +tell't ye that?" + +"Where else could your child have heard such reports, then?" + +"Isie! Isie! My poor wee bairn! What hae ye been aboot to tak' awa' yer +mither's gude name?" + +And she hugged the child closer yet. + +Isie hung down her head, and began to have dim perceptions that she +might have been doing mischief with the best possible intentions. + +"I only tell't Mistress Forbes hoo ill they war to Alec." + +After a moment's reflection, Mrs Constable turned with a subdued manner +to Mrs Forbes. + +"The bairn's a curious bairn, mem," she said. "And she's owerheard her +father and me speakin' thegither as gin't had been only ae body +thinkin'. For gin ever twa was ane, that twa and that ane is Andrew +Constable and mysel'." + +"But what right had you to talk about my son?" + +"Weel, mem, that queston gangs raither far. What's already procleemed +frae the hoose-taps may surely be spoken i' the ear in closets--for oor +back-room is but a closet. Gin ye think that fowk'll haud their tongues +about your bairn mair nor ony ither body's bairn ye're mista'en, mem. +But never ane heard o' 't frae me, and I can tak' my bodily aith for my +man, for he's jist by ordinar' for haudin' his tongue. I cud hardly +worm it oot o' 'm mysel'." + +Mrs Forbes saw that she had been too hasty. + +"What does it all mean, Mrs Constable?" she said, "for I am quite +ignorant." + +"Ye may weel be that, mem. And maybe there's no a word o' trouth i' the +story, for I'm doobtin' the win' that brocht it blew frae an ill airt." + +"I really don't understand you, Mrs Constable. What do they say about +him?" + +"Ow, jist that he's consortin' wi' the warst o' ill company, mem. But +as I said to Anerew, maybe he'll come oot o' their cluiks no that +muckle the waur, efter a'." + +Mrs Forbes sank on the sofa, and hid her face in her hands. Annie +turned white as death, and left the room. When Mrs Forbes lifted her +head, Mrs Constable and her strange child had vanished. + +Mrs Forbes and Annie wept together bitterly, in the shadow of death +which the loved one cast upon them across the white plains and hills. +Then the mother sat down and wrote, begging him to deny the terrible +charge; after which they both felt easier. But when the return of post +had brought no reply, and the next day was likewise barren of tidings, +Mrs Forbes resolved to go to the hateful city at once. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXVI. + + +When Alec woke in the morning, it rushed upon his mind that he had had +a terrible dream; and he reproached himself that even in a dream he +should be capable of striking to the earth the friend who had just +saved him from disgrace, and wanted to save him from more. But as his +headache began to yield to cold water, discomposing doubts rose upon +his clearing mental horizon. They were absurd, but still they were +unpleasant. It _could_ be only a dream that he had felled the man twice +his age, and half his size, who had once shed his blood for him. But +why did it look so like fact, if it was only a dream? Horrible thought! +Could it?--It could--It must be--It was a fact! + +Haggard with horror as well as revelry, he rushed towards the stair, +but was met by Mrs Leslie, who stopped him and said: + +"Mr Forbes, gin you and Mr Cupples gang on at this rate, I'll be forced +to gie ye baith warnin' to flit. I oucht to hae written to yer mither +afore noo. Ye'll brack her hert or a' be dune. Eh! it's a sair thing +whan young lads tak to drink, and turn reprobates in a jiffie +(moment)." + +"I dinna gang to your kirk, and ye needna preach to me. What's the +maitter wi' Mr Cupples? He hasna ta'en to drink in a jiffie, has he?" + +"Ye scorner! He cam hame last nicht bleedin' at the heid, and i' the +han's o' the watchman. Puir man! he cud hardly win up the stair. I +canna think hoo he cam' to fa' sae sair; for they say there's a special +Providence watches ower drunk men and bairns. He was an awfu' sicht, +honest man! A terrible mixter o' reid and white." + +"What said he about it?" asked Alec, trembling. + +"Ow, naething. He had naething till say. Ye maunna gang near him; for I +left him fest asleep. Gang awa benn to yer ain room, and I'll be in wi' +yer brakfast in ten minutes. Eh! but ye wad be a fine lad gin ye wad +only gie up the drink and the ill company." + +Alec obeyed, ashamed and full of remorse. The only thing he could do +was to attend to Mr Cupples's business in the library, where he worked +at the catalogue till the afternoon lecture was over. + +Nobody had seen Beauchamp, and the blinds of Kate's windows were drawn +down. + +All day his heart was full of Mr Cupples; and as he went home he +recalled everything with perfect distinctness, and felt that his +conduct had been as vile as it was possible for conduct to be. Because +a girl could not love him, he had ceased to love his mother, had given +himself up to Satan, and had returned the devotion of his friend with a +murderous blow. Because he could not have a bed of roses, he had thrown +himself down in the pig-stye. He rushed into a public-house, and +swallowed two glasses of whisky. That done, he went straight home, and +ran up to Mr Cupples's room. + +Mr Cupples was sitting before the fire, with his hands on his knees and +his head bound in white, bloodstained. He turned a ghastly face, and +tried to smile. Alec's heart gave way utterly. He knelt at Mr Cupples's +feet, laid his head on his knee, and burst into very unsaxon but most +gracious tears. Mr Cupples laid a small trembling hand on the boy's +head, saying, + +"Eh! bantam, bantam!" and could say no more. + +"Mr Cupples," sobbed Alec, "forgive me. I'll cut my throat, gin ye +like." + +"Ye wad do better to cut the deevil's throat." + +"Hoo could I do that? Tell me, and I'll do 't." + +"Wi' the broken whisky-bottle, man. That's at the root o' a' the +mischeef. It's no you. It's the drink. And eh! Alec, we micht be richt +happy thegither efter that. I wad mak a scholar o' ye." + +"Weel, Mr Cupples, ye hae a richt to demand o' me what ye like; for +henceforth ye hae the pooer o' life or deith ower me. But gin I try to +brak throu the drinkin', I maun haud oot ower frae the smell o' 't; an' +I doobt," added Alec slyly, "ye wadna hae the chance o' makin' muckle +o' a scholar o' me in that case." + +And now the dark roots of thought and feeling blossomed into the fair +flower of resolution. + +"Bantam," said Mr Cupples solemnly, "I sweir to God, gin ye'll gie ower +the drink and the lave o' yer ill gaits, I'll gie ower the drink as +weel. I hae naething ither to gie ower. But that winna be easy," he +added with a sigh, stretching his hand towards his glass. + +From a sudden influx of energy, Alec stretched his hand likewise +towards the same glass, and laying hold on it as Mr Cupples was raising +it to his lips, cried: + +"I sweir to God likewise--And noo," he added, leaving his hold of the +glass, "ye daurna drink it." + +Mr Cupples threw glass and all into the fire. + +"That's my fareweel libation to the infernal Bacchus," he said. "Lat it +gang to swall the low o' Phlegethon. But eh! it's a terrible +undertakin'. It's mair nor Hercules himsel' could hae made onything o'. +Bantam! I hae saicrifeesed mysel' to you. Haud to your pairt, or I +canna haud to mine." + +It was indeed a terrible undertaking. I doubt whether either of them +would have had courage for it, had he not been under those same +exciting influences--which, undermining all power of manly action, yet +give for the moment a certain amount of energy to expend. But the +limits are narrow within which, by wasting his capital, a man secures a +supply of pocket-money. And for them the tug of war was to come. + +They sat on opposite sides of the table and stared at each other. As +the spirituous tide ebbed from the brain, more and more painful visions +of the near future steamed up. Yet even already conscience began to +sustain them. Her wine was strong, and they were so little used to it +that it even excited them. + +With Alec the struggle would soon be over. His nervous system would +speedily recover its healthy operations. But Cupples--from whose veins +alcohol had expelled the blood, whose skull was a Circean cup of +hurtful spells--would not delirium follow for him? + +Suddenly Alec laid his hand on the bottle. Mr Cupples trembled. Was he +going to break his vow already? + +"Wadna't be better to fling this into the neist yard, Mr Cupples?" said +Alec. "We daurna fling 't i' the fire. It wad set the chimley in a +low (flame)." + +"Na, na. Lat ye 't sit," returned Mr Cupples. + +"I wad be clean affrontit gin I cudna see and forbear. Ye may jist pit +it into the press though. A body needna lay burdens grievous to be +borne upo' himsel' mair nor upo' ither fowk. Noo, lat's hae a game o' +cribbage, to haud's ohn thocht aboot it." + +They played two or three games. It was pathetic to see how Mr Cupples's +right hand, while he looked at the cards in his left, would go blindly +flitting about the spot where his glass had always used to stand; and +how, when he looked up unable to find it, his face shadowed over with +disappointment. After those two or three games, he threw down the +cards, saying, + +"It winna do, bantam. I dinna like the cairts the nicht. Wi'oot ony +thing to weet them, they're dooms dry. What say ye to a chorus o' +Aeschylus?" + +Alec's habits of study had been quite broken up of late. Even the +medical lectures and the hospital classes had been neglected. So +Aeschylus could not be much of a consolatory amusement in the blank +which follows all exorcism. But Cupples felt that if no good spirit +came into the empty house, sweeping and garnishing would only entice +the seven to take the place of the one. So he tried to interest his +pupil once again in his old studies; and by frequent changes did ere +long succeed in holding tedium at bay. + +But all his efforts would have resulted in nothing but that vain +sweeping and garnishing, had not both their hearts been already +tenanted by one good and strong spirit--essential life and humanity. +That spirit was Love, which at the long last will expel whatsoever +opposeth itself. While Alec felt that he must do everything to please +Mr Cupples, he, on his part, felt that all the future of the youth lay +in his hands. He forgot the pangs of alcoholic desire in his fear lest +Alec should not be able to endure the tedium of abstinence; and Alec's +gratitude and remorse made him humble as a slave to the little +big-hearted man whom he had injured so cruelly. + +"I'm tired and maun gang to my bed, for I hae a sair heid," said Mr +Cupples, that first night. + +"That's my doin'!" said Alec, sorrowfully. + +"Gin this new repentance o' yours and mine turns oot to hae onything +in't, we'll baith hae rizzon to be thankfu' that ye cloured (dinted) my +skull, Alec. But eh me! I'm feared I winna sleep muckle the nicht." + +"Wad ye like me to sit up wi' ye?" asked Alec. "I cud sleep i' your +cheir weel eneuch." + +"Na, na. We hae baith need to say oor prayers, and we cudna do that +weel thegither. Gang ye awa' to yer bed, and min' yer vow to God and to +me. And dinna forget yer prayers, Alec." + +Neither of them forgot his prayers. Alec slept soundly--Mr Cupples not +at all. + +"I think," he said, when Alec appeared in the morning, "I winna tak sic +a hardship upo' me anither nicht. Jist open the cat's door and fling +the bottle into somebody's yard. I houp it winna cut onybody's feet." + +Alec flew to the cupboard, and dragged out the demon. + +"Noo," said Mr Cupples, "open the twa doors wide, and fling 't wi' a +birr, that I may hear its last speech and dyin' declaration." + +Alec did as he was desired, and the bottle fell on the stones of a +little court. The clash rose to the ears of Mr Cupples. + +"Thank God!" he said with a sigh.--"Alec, no man that hasna gane throu +the same, can tell what I hae gane throu this past nicht, wi' that +deevil i' the press there cryin' 'Come pree (taste) me! come pree me!' +But I heard and hearkened not. And yet whiles i' the nicht, although +I'm sure I didna sleep a wink, I thocht I was fumblin' awa' at the lock +o' the press an' cudna get it opened. And the press was a coffin set up +upo' its en', an' I kent that there was a corp inside it, and yet I +tried sair to open't. An' syne again, I thocht it was the gate o' +Paradees afore which stud the angel wi' the flamin' sword that turned +ilka gait, and wadna lat me in. But I'm some better sin the licht cam, +and I wad fain hae a drappy o' that fine caller tipple they ca' +watter." + +Alec ran down and brought it cold from the pump, saying, as Mr Cupples +returned the tumbler with a look of thanks, + +"But there's the tappit hen. I doot gin we lea' her i' the press, +she'll be wantin' to lay." + +"Na, na, nae fear o' that. She's as toom's a cock. Gang and luik. The +last drap in her wame flaw oot at the window i' that bottle. Eh! Alec, +but I'll hae a sair day, and ye maun be true to me. Gie me my Homer, or +I'll never win throu't. An ye may lay John Milton within my rax +(reach); for I winna pit my leg oot o' the blankets till ye come hame. +Sae ye maunna be langer nor ye can help." + +Alec promised, and set off with a light heart. + +Beauchamp was at none of the classes. And the blinds of Kate's windows +were still drawn down. + +For a whole week he came home as early as possible and spent the rest +of the day with Mr Cupples. But many dreary hours passed over them +both. The suffering of Mr Cupples and the struggle which he had to +sustain with the constant craving of his whole being, are perhaps +indescribable; but true to his vow and to his friend, he endured +manfully. Still it was with a rueful-comical look and a sigh, +sometimes, that he would sit down to his tea, remarking, + +"Eh, man! this is meeserable stuff--awfu' weyk tipple--a pagan +invention a'thegither." + +But the tea comforted the poor half-scorched, half-sodden nerves +notwithstanding, and by slow degrees they began to gather tone and +strength; his appetite improved; and at the end of the week he resumed +his duties in the library. And thenceforth, as soon as his classes were +over, Alec would go to the library to Mr Cupples, or on other days Mr +Cupples would linger near the medical school or hospital, till Alec +came out, and then they would go home together. Once home, both found +enough to do in getting one of them up to the mark of the approaching +examinations.--Two pale-faced creatures they sat there, in Mr Cupples's +garret, looking wretched and subdued enough, although occasionally they +broke out laughing, as the sparks of life revived and flickered into +merriment. + +Inquiring after Miss Fraser, Alec learned that she was ill. The maid +inquired in return if he knew anything about Mr Beauchamp. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXVII. + + +Mr Cupples and Alec were hard at work--the table covered with books and +papers; when a knock came to the door--the rarest occurrence in that +skyey region--and the landlady ushered in Mrs Forbes. + +The two men sprang to their feet, and Mrs Forbes stared with gratified +amazement. The place was crowded with signs of intellectual labour, and +not even a pack of cards was visible. + +"Why didn't you answer my last letter, Alec?" she said. + +It had dropped behind some books, and he had never seen it. + +"What is the meaning, then, of such reports about you?" she resumed, +venturing to put the question in the presence of Mr Cupples in the hope +of a corroborated refutation. + +Alec looked confused, grew red, and was silent. Mr Cupples took up the +reply. + +"Ye see, mem, it's a pairt o' the edication o' the human individual, +frae the time o' Adam and Eve doonwith, to learn to refuse the evil and +chowse the guid. This doesna aye come o' eatin' butter and honey, but +whiles o' eatin' aise (ashes) and dirt. Noo, my pupil, here, mem, your +son, has eaten that dirt and made that chice. And I'll be caution +(security) for him that he'll never mair return to wallow i' that mire. +It's three weeks, mem, sin ae drop o' whusky has passed his mou." + +"Whisky!" exclaimed the mother. "Alec! Is it possible?" + +"Mem, mem! It wad become ye better to fa' doon upo' yer knees and thank +the God that's brocht him oot o' a fearfu' pit and oot o' the miry clay +and set his feet upon a rock. But the rock's some sma' i' the fit-haud, +and ae word micht jist caw him aff o' 't again. Gin ye fa' to +upbraidin' o' 'm, ye may gar him clean forget's washin'." + +But Mrs Forbes was proud, and did not like interference between her and +her son. Had she found things as bad as she had expected, she would +have been humble. Now that her fears had abated, her natural pride had +returned. + +"Take me to your own room, Alec," she said. + +"Ay, ay, mem. Tak' him wi' ye. But caw cannie, ye ken, or ye'll gie me +a deevil o' a job wi' 'm." + +With a smile to Cupples, Alec led the way. + +He would have told his mother almost everything if she had been genial. +As she was, he contented himself with a general confession that he had +been behaving very badly, and would have grown ten times worse but for +Mr Cupples, who was the best friend that he had on earth. + +"Better than your mother, Alec?" she asked, jealously. + +"I was no kith or kin of his, and yet he loved me," said Alec. + +"He ought to have behaved more like a gentleman to me." + +"Mother, you don't understand Mr Cupples. He's a strange creature. He +takes a pride in speaking the broadest Scotch, when he could talk to +you in more languages than you ever heard of, if he liked." + +"I don't think he's fit company for you anyhow. We'll change the +subject, if you please." + +So Alec was yet more annoyed, and the intercourse between mother and +son was forced and uncomfortable. As soon as she retired to rest, Alec +bounded up stairs again. + +"Never mind my mother," he cried. "She's a good woman, but she's vexed +with me, and lets it out on you." + +"Mind her!" answered Mr Cupples; "she's a verra fine woman; and she may +say what she likes to me. She'll be a' richt the morn's mornin'. A +woman wi' ae son's like a coo wi' ae horn, some kittle (ticklish), ye +ken. I cud see in her een haill coal-pits o' affection. She wad dee for +ye, afore ye cud say--'Dinna, mither.'" + +Next day they went to call on Professor Fraser. He received them +kindly, and thanked Mrs Forbes for her attentions to his niece. But he +seemed oppressed and troubled. His niece was far from well, he +said--had not left her room for some weeks, and could see no one. + +Mrs Forbes associated Alec's conduct with Kate's illness, but said +nothing about her suspicions. After one day more, she returned home, +reassured by but not satisfied with her visit. She felt that Alec had +outgrown his former relation to her, and had a dim perception that her +pride had prevented them from entering upon a yet closer relation. It +is their own fault when mothers lose by the _growth_ of their children. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXVIII. + + +Meantime, Annie was passing through a strange experience. It gave her a +dreadful shock to know that such things were reported of her hero, her +champion. They could not be true, else Chaos was come again. But when +no exultant denial of them arrived from the pen of his mother, although +she wrote as she had promised, then she understood by degrees that the +youth had erred from the path, and had denied the Lord that bought him. +She brooded and fancied and recoiled till the thought of him became so +painful that she turned from it, rather than from him, with discomfort +amounting almost to disgust. He had been to her the centre of all that +was noble and true. And he revelled in company of which she knew +nothing except from far-off hints of unapproachable pollution! Her idol +all of silver hue was blackened with the breath of sulphur, and the +world was overspread with the darkness which radiated from it. + +In this mood she went to the week-evening service at Mr Turnbull's +chapel. There she sat listless, looking for no help, and caring for +none of the hymns or prayers. At length Mr Turnbull began to read the +story of the Prodigal Son. And during the reading her distress vanished +like snow in the sunshine. For she took for her own the character of +the elder brother, prayed for forgiveness, and came away loving Alec +Forbes more than ever she had loved him before. If God could love the +Prodigal, might she not, ought she not to love him too?--The deepest +source of her misery, though she did not know that it was, had been the +fading of her love to him. + +And as she walked home through the dark, the story grew into other +comfort. A prodigal might see the face of God, then! He was no grand +monarch, but a homely father. He would receive her one day, and let her +look in his face. + +Nor did the trouble return any more. From that one moment, no feeling +of repugnance ever mingled with her thought of Alec. For such a one as +he could not help repenting, she said. He would be sure to rise and go +back to his Father. She would not have found it hard to believe even, +that, come early, or linger late, no swine-keeping son of the Father +will be able to help repenting at last; that no God-born soul will be +able to go on trying to satisfy himself with the husks that the swine +eat, or to refrain from thinking of his Father's house, and wishing +himself within its walls even in the meanest place; or that such a wish +is prelude to the best robe and the ring and the fatted calf, when the +Father would spend himself in joyous obliteration of his son's past and +its misery--having got him back his very own, and better than when he +went, because more humble and more loving. + +When Mrs Forbes came home, she entered into no detail, and was +disinclined to talk about the matter at all, probably as much from +dissatisfaction with herself as with her son, But Annie's heart +blossomed into a quiet delight when she learned that the facts were not +so bad as the reports, and that there was no doubt he would yet live +them all down. + +The evil time was drawing nigh, ushered by gentler gales and snowdrops, +when she must be turned out for the spring and summer. She would feel +it more than ever, but less than if her aunt had not explained to her +that she had a right to the shelter afforded her by the Bruces. + +Meantime arrived a letter from Mr Cupples. + +"Dear Madam,--After all the efforts of Mr Alec, aided by my best +endeavours, but counteracted by the grief of knowing that his cousin, +Miss Fraser, entertained a devoted regard for a worthless class-fellow +of his--after all our united efforts, Mr Alec has not been able to pass +more than two of his examinations. I am certain he would have done +better but for the unhappiness to which I have referred, combined with +the illness of Miss Fraser. In the course of a day or two, he will +return to you, when, if you can succeed, as none but mothers can, in +restoring him to some composure of mind, he will be perfectly able +during the vacation to make up for lost time. + +"I am, dear madam, your obedient servant, + +"Cosmo Cupples." + +Angry with Kate, annoyed with her son, vexed with herself, and +indignant at the mediation of "that dirty vulgar little man," Mrs +Forbes forgot her usual restraint, and throwing the letter across the +table with the words "Bad news, Annie," left the room. But the effect +produced upon Annie by the contents of the letter was very different. + +Hitherto she had looked up to Alec as a great strong creature. Her +faith in him had been unquestioning and unbounded. Even his +wrong-doings had not impressed her with any sense of his weakness. But +now, rejected and disgraced, his mother dissatisfied, his friend +disappointed, and himself foiled in the battle of life, he had fallen +upon evil days, and all the woman in Annie rose for his defence. In a +moment they had changed places in the world of her moral imagination. +The strong youth was weak and defenceless: the gentle girl opened the +heart almost of motherhood, to receive and shelter the worn outraged +man. A new tenderness, a new pity took possession of her. Indignant +with Kate, angry with the professors, ready to kiss the hands of Mr +Cupples, all the tenderness of her tender nature gathered about her +fallen hero, and she was more like his wife defending him from _her_ +mother. Now she could be something if not to him yet for him. He had +been a "bright particular star" "beyond her sphere," but now the star +lay in the grass, shorn of its beams, and she took it to her bosom. + +Two days passed. On the third evening in walked Alec, pale and +trembling, evidently ill, too ill to be questioned. His breathing was +short and checked by pain. + +"If I hadn't come at once, mother," he said, "I should have been laid +up there. It's pleurisy, Mr Cupples says." + +"My poor boy!" + +"Oh! I don't care." + +"You've been working too hard, dear." + +Alec laughed bitterly. + +"I did work, mother; but it doesn't matter. She's dead." + +"Who's dead?" exclaimed his mother. + +"Kate's dead. And I couldn't help it. I tried hard. And it's all my +fault too. Cupples says she's better dead. But I might have saved her." + +He started from the sofa, and went pacing about the room, his face +flushed and his breath coming faster and shorter. His mother got him to +lie down again, and asked no more questions. The doctor came and bled +him at the arm, and sent him to bed. + +When Annie saw him worn and ill, her heart swelled till she could +hardly bear the aching of it. She would have been his slave, and she +could do nothing. She must leave him instead. She went to her room, put +on her bonnet and cloak, and was leaving the house when Mrs Forbes +caught sight of her. + +"Annie! what _do_ you mean, child? You're not going to leave me?" + +"I thought you wouldn't want me any more, ma'am." + +"You silly child!" + +Annie ran back to her room, thus compromising with a strong inclination +to dance back to it. + +When Mr Cupples and Alec had begun to place confidence in each other's +self-denial, they cared less to dog each other.--Alec finding at the +Natural Philosophy examination that he had no chance, gathered his +papers, and leaving the room, wandered away to his former refuge when +miserable, that long desolate stretch of barren sand between the mouths +of the two rivers. Here he wandered till long after the dusk had +deepened into night.--A sound as of one singing came across the links, +and drew nearer and nearer. He turned in the direction of it, for +something in the tones reminded him of Kate; and he almost believed the +song was her nurse's ghostly ballad. But it ceased; and after walking +some distance inland, he turned again towards the sea. The song rose +once more, but now between him and the sea. He ran towards it, falling +repeatedly on the broken ground. By the time he reached the shore, the +singing had again ceased, but presently a wild cry came from seawards, +where the waves far out were still ebbing from the shore. He dashed +along the glimmering sands, thinking he caught glimpses of something +white, but there was no moon to give any certainty. As he advanced he +became surer, but the sea was between. He rushed in. Deeper and deeper +grew the water. He swam. But before he could reach the spot, for he had +taken to the water too soon, with another cry the figure vanished, +probably in one of those deep pits which abound along that shore. Still +he held on, diving many times, but in vain. His vigour was not now what +it had once been, and at length he was so exhausted, that when he came +to himself, lying on his back in the dry sands, he had quite forgotten +how he came there. He would have rushed again into the water, but he +could scarcely move his limbs. He actually crawled part of the way +across the links to the college. There he inquired if Miss Fraser was +in the house. The maid assured him that she was in her own room, +whereupon he went home. But he had scarcely gone before they discovered +that her room was deserted, and she nowhere to be found. The shock of +this news rendered it impossible for him to throw off the effects of +his exposure. But he lingered on till Mr Cupples compelled him to go +home. Not even then, however, had her body been recovered. Alec was +convinced that she had got into one of the quicksands; but it was cast +ashore a few days after his departure, and it was well that he did not +see it. He did not learn the fact till many years after. + +It soon transpired that she had been out of her mind for some time. +Indeed rumours of the sort had been afloat before. The proximate cause +of her insanity was not certainly known. Some suspicion of the +worthlessness of her lover, some enlightenment as to his perfidy, or +his unaccountable disappearance alone, may have occasioned its +manifestation. But there is great reason to believe that she had a +natural predisposition to it. And having never been taught to provide +for her own mental sustenance, and so nourish a necessary independence, +she had been too ready to squander the wealth of a rich and lovely +nature upon an unworthy person, and the reaction had been madness and +death. But anything was better than marrying Beauchamp. + +One strange fact in the case was her inexplicable aversion to +water--either a crude prevision of her coming fate, or, in the +mysterious operations of delirious reasoning, the actual cause of it. +The sea, visible from her window over the dreary flat of the links, may +have fascinated her, and drawn her to her death. Such cases are not +unknown. + +During the worst period of Alec's illness, he was ever wandering along +that shore, or swimming in those deadly waters. Sometimes he had laid +hold of the drowning girl and was struggling with her to the surface. +Sometimes he was drawing her in an agony from the swallowing gullet of +a quicksand, which held her fast, and swallowed at her all the time +that he fought to rescue her from its jawless throat. + +Annie took her turn in the sick chamber, watching beside the +half-unconscious lad, and listening anxiously to the murmurs that broke +through the veil of his dreams. The feeling with which she had received +the prodigal home into her heart, spread its roots deeper and wider, +and bore at length a flower of a pale-rosy flush--Annie's love revealed +to herself--strong although pale, delicate although strong. It seemed +to the girl she had loved him so always, only she had not thought about +it. He had fought for her and endured for her at school; he had saved +her life from the greedy waters of the Glamour at the risk of his own: +she would be the most ungrateful of girls if she did not love him.--And +she did love him with a quiet intensity peculiar to her nature. + +Never had she happier hours than those in which it seemed that only the +stars and the angels were awake besides herself. And if while watching +him thus at night she grew sleepy, she would kneel down and pray God to +keep her awake, lest any harm should befall Alec. Then she would wonder +if even the angels could do without sleep always, and fancy them lying +about the warm fields of heaven between their own shadowy wings. She +would wonder next if it would be safe for God to close his eyes for one +minute--safe for the world, she meant; and hope that, if ever he did +close his eyes, that might not be the one moment when she should see +his face. Then she would nod, and wake up with a start, flutter +silently to her feet, and go and peep at the slumberer. Never was woman +happier than Annie was during those blessed midnights and cold grey +dawns. Sometimes, in those terrible hours after midnight that belong +neither to the night nor the day, but almost to the primeval darkness, +the terrors of the darkness would seize upon her, and she would sit +"inhabiting trembling." But the lightest movement of the sleeper would +rouse her, and a glance at the place where he lay would dispel her +fears. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXIX. + + +One night she heard a rustling amongst the bushes in the garden; and +the next moment a subdued voice began to sing: + + I waited for the Lord my God and patiently did bear; + At length to me he did incline, my voice and cry to hear. + He took me from a fearful pit, and from the miry clay, + And on a rock he set my feet, establishing my way. + +The tune was that wildest of trustful wailings--_Martyrs_'. + +"I didna ken that ye cared aboot psalm-tunes, Mr Cupples," murmured +Alec. + +The singing went on and he grew restless. + +It was an _eerie_ thing to go out, but she must stop the singing. If it +was Mr Cupples, she could have nothing to fear. Besides, a bad man +would not sing that song.--As she opened the door, a soft spring wind +blew upon her full of genial strength, as if it came straight from +those dark blue clefts between the heavy clouds of the cast. Away in +the clear west, the half-moon was going down in dreaming stillness. The +dark figure of a little man stood leaning against the house, singing +gently. + +"Are you Mr Cupples?" she said. + +The man started, and answered, + +"Yes, my lass. And wha are ye?" + +"I'm Annie Anderson. Alec's some disturbit wi' your singin'. Ye'll wauk +him up, and he'll be a hantle the waur o' 't." + +"I winna sing anither stave. It was lanesome stan'in' upo' the ootside +here, as gin I war ane o' the foolish virgins." + +"Eh! wadna that be dreidfu'?" responded Annie simply. Her words awoke +an echo in Mr Cupples's conscience, but he returned no reply. + +"Hoo's Alec?" he asked. + +"Some better. He's growin' better, though it's langsome like." + +"And do they lippen you to luik efter him, no?" + +"Ay. What for no? His mither wad be worn to deith gin she sat up ilka +nicht. He canna bide ouybody but her or me." + +"Weel, ye're a young crater to hae sic a chairge.--I wrote to Mrs +Forbes twa or three times, but I got but ae scrimpit answer. Sae as +sune's I cud win awa', I cam' to speir efter him mysel'." + +"Whan did ye come, Mr Cupples?" + +"This nicht. Or I reckon it's last nicht noo. But or I wan ower this +len'th, ye war a' i' yer beds, and I daurna disturb ye. Sae I sat doon +in a summer-seat that I cam' upo', and smokit my pipe and luikit at the +stars and the cluds. And I tried to sing a sang, but naething but +psalms wad come, for the nicht's sae awfu' solemn, whan ye win richt +intil the mids o' 't! It jist distresses me that there's naebody up to +worship God a' nicht in sic a nicht's this." + +"Nae doobt there's mony praisin' him that we canna see." + +"Ow, ay; nae doobt. But aneath this lift, and breathin' the houpfu' air +o' this divine darkness." + +Annie did not quite understand him. + +"I maun gang back to Alec," she said. "Ye'll come ower the morn, Mr +Cupples, and hear a' aboot him?" + +"I will do that, my bairn. Hoo do they ca' ye--for I forget names +dreidfu'?" + +"Annie Anderson." + +"Ay, ay; Annie Anderson--I hae surely heard that name afore.--Weel, I +winna forget _you_, whether I forget yer name or no." + +"But hae ye a bed?" said the thoughtful girl, to whom the comfort of +every one who came near her was an instinctive anxiety. + +"Ow, ay. I hae a bed at the hoose o' a sma', jabberin', bitter-barkit +crater they ca' King Robert the Bruce." + +Annie knew that he must be occupying her room; and was on the point of +expressing a hope that he "wadna be disturbit wi' the rottans," when +she saw that it would lead to new explanations and delays. + +"Good night, Mr Cupples," she said, holding out her hand. + +Mr Cupples took it kindly, saying: + +"Are ye a niece, or a gran'-dochter o' the hoose, or a hired servan', +or what are ye?--for ye're a wice-spoken lass and a bonnie." + +"I'm a servan' o' the hoose," said Annie. Then after a moment's +hesitation, she added, "but no a hired ane." + +"Ye're worth hirin' onyhoo, hinnie (honey); and they're weel aff that +has ye i' the hoose in ony capawcity. An auld man like me may say that +to yer face. Sae I'll awa' to my bed, and sing the lave o' my psalm as +I gang." + +Mr Cupples had a proclivity to garrets. He could not be comfortable if +any person was over his head. He could breathe, he said, when he got +next to the stars. For the rats he cared nothing, and slept as if the +garret were a cellar in heaven. + +It had been a sore trial of his manhood to keep his vow after he knew +that Alec was safe in the haven of a sick-bed. He knew that for him, if +he were once happy again, there was little danger of a relapse; for his +physical nature had not been greatly corrupted: there had not been time +for that. He would rise from his sickness newborn. Hence it was the +harder for Mr Cupples, in his loneliness, to do battle with his +deep-rooted desires. He would never drink as he had done, but might he +not have just one tumbler?--That one tumbler he did not take. And--rich +reward!--after two months the well of song within him began to gurgle +and heave as if its waters would break forth once more in the desert; +the roseate hue returned to the sunsets; and the spring came in with a +very childhood of greenness.--The obfuscations of self-indulgence will +soon vanish where they have not been sealed by crime and systematic +selfishness. + +Another though inferior reward was, that he had money in his pocket: +with this money he would go and see Alec Forbes. The amount being +small, however, he would save it by walking. Hence it came that he +arrived late and weary. Entering the first shop he came to, he inquired +after a cheap lodging. For he said to himself that the humblest inn was +beyond his means; though probably his reason for avoiding such a +shelter was the same as made him ask Alec to throw the bottle out of +the garret. Robert Bruce heard his question, and, regarding him keenly +from under his eyebrows, debated with himself whether the applicant was +respectable--that is, whether he could pay, and would bring upon the +house no discredit by the harbourage. The signs of such a man as +Cupples were inscrutable to Bruce; therefore his answer hung fire. + +"Are ye deif, man?" said Cupples; "or are ye feared to tyne a chance by +giein' a fair answer to a fair queston?" + +The arrow went too near the mark not to irritate Bruce. + +"Gang yer wa's," said he. "We dinna want tramps i' this toon." + +"Weel, I am a tramp, nae doobt," returned Cupples; "for I hae come ilka +bit o' the road upo' my ain fit; but I hae read in history o' twa or +three tramps that war respectable fowk for a' that. Ye winna _gie_ +onything i' this chop, I doobt--nae even information.--Will ye _sell_ +me an unce o' pigtail?" + +"Ow, ay. I'll sell't gin ye'll buy't." + +"There's the bawbees," said Cupples, laying the orthodox pence on the +counter. "And noo will ye tell me whaur I can get a respectable, dacent +place to lie doon in? I'll want it for a week, at ony rate." + +Before he had finished the question, the door behind the counter had +opened, and young Bruce had entered. Mr Cupples knew him well enough by +sight as a last year's bejan. + +"How are you?" he said. "I know you, though I don't know your name." + +"My name's Robert Bruce, Mr Cupples." + +"A fine name--Robert Bruce," he replied. + +The youth turned to his father, and said-- + +"This gentleman is the librarian of our college, father." + +Bruce took his hat off his head, and set it on the counter. + +"I beg your pardon, sir," he said. "I'm terrible short-sichtit in +can'le-licht." + +"I'm used to bein' mista'en'," answered Cupples simply, perceiving that +he had got hold of a character. "Mak nae apologies, I beg ye, but +answer my queston." + +"Weel, sir, to tell the trowth, seein' ye're a gentleman, we hae a room +oorsels. But it's a garret-room, and maybe--" + +"Then I'll hae't, whatever it be, gin ye dinna want ower muckle for't." + +"Weel, ye see, sir, your college is a great expense to heumble fowk +like oorsels, and we hae to mak it up the best way that we can." + +"Nae doot. Hoo muckle do ye want?" + +"Wad ye think five shillins ower muckle?" + +"'Deed wad I." + +"Weel, we'll say three than--to _you_, sir." + +"I winna gie ye mair nor half-a-croon." + +"Hoot, sir! It's ower little." + +"Well, I'll look further," said Mr Cupples, putting on English, and +moving to the door. + +"Na, sir; ye'll do nae sic thing. Do ye think I wad lat the leebrarian +o' my son's college gang oot at my door this time o' nicht, to luik for +a bed till himsel'? Ye s' jist hae't at yer ain price, and welcome. +Ye'll hae yer tay and sugar and bitties o' cheese frae me, ye ken?" + +"Of course--of course. And if you could get me some tea at once, I +should be obliged to you." + +"Mother," cried Bruce through the house-door, and held a momentary +whispering with the partner of his throne. + +"So your name's Bruce, is it?" resumed Cupples, as the other returned +to the counter. + +"Robert Bruce, sir, at your service." + +"It's a gran' _name_," said Cupples with emphasis. + +"'Deed is't, and I hae a richt to beir 't." + +"Ye'll be a descendant, nae doot, o' the Yerl o' Carrick?" said +Cupples, guessing at his weakness. + +"O' the king, sir. Fowk may think little o' me; but I come o' him that +freed Scotland. Gin it hadna been for Bannockburn, sir, whaur wad +Scotland hae been the day?" + +"Nearhan' civileezed unner the fine influences o' the English, wi' +their cultivation and their mainners, and, aboon a', their gran' +Edwards and Hairries." + +"I dinna richtly unnerstan' ye, sir," said Bruce. "Ye hae heard hoo the +king clave the skull o' Sir Henry dee Bohunn--haena ye, sir?" + +"Ow, aye. But it was a pity it wasna the ither gait. Lat me see the way +to my room, for I want to wash my han's and face. They're jist barkit +wi' stour (dust)." + +Bruce hesitated whether to show Mr Cupples out or in. His blue blood +boiled at this insult to his great progenitor. But a half-crown would +cover a greater wrong than that even, and he obeyed. Cupples followed +him up-stairs, murmuring to himself: + +"Shades o' Wallace and Bruce! forgie me. But to see sma' craters cock +their noses and their tails as gin they had inherited the michty deeds +as weel as the names o' their forbears, jist scunners me, and turns my +blude into the gall o' bitterness--and that's scripter for't." + +After further consultation, Mr and Mrs Bruce came to the conclusion +that it might be politic, for Robert's sake, to treat the librarian +with consideration. Consequently Mrs Bruce invited him to go down to +his tea in _the room_. Descending before it was quite ready, he looked +about him. The only thing that attracted his attention was a handsomely +bound Bible. This he took up, thinking to get some amusement from the +births of the illustrious Bruces; but the only inscription he could +find, besides the name of _John Cowie_, was the following in pencil: + +"_Super Davidis Psalmum tertium vicesimum, syngrapham pecuniariam +centum solidos valentem, quoe, me mortuo, a Annie Anderson, mihi +dilecta, sit, posui_." + +Then came some figures, and then the date, with the initials _J. C_. + +Hence it was that Mr Cupples thought he had heard the name of Annie +Anderson before. + +"It's a gran' Bible this, gudewife," he said as Mrs Bruce entered. + +"Aye is't. It belanged to oor pairis-minister." + +Nothing more passed, for Mr Cupples was hungry. + +After a long sleep in the morning, he called upon Mrs Forbes, and was +kindly received; but it was a great disappointment to him to find that +he could not see Alec. As he was in the country, however, he resolved +to make the best of it, and enjoy himself for a week. For his asserted +dislike to the country, though genuine at the time, was anything but +natural to him. So every day he climbed to the top of one or other of +the hills which inclosed the valley, and was rewarded with fresh vigour +and renewed joy. He had not learned to read Wordsworth; yet not a wind +blew through a broom-bush, but it blew a joy from it into his heart. He +too was a prodigal returned at least into _the vestibule_ of his +Father's house. And the Father sent the servants out there to minister +to him; and Nature, the housekeeper, put the robe of health upon him, +and gave him new shoes of strength, and a ring, though not the Father's +white stone. The delights of those spring days were endless to him +whose own nature was budding with new life. Familiar with all the +cottage ways, he would drop into any _hoosie_ he came near about his +dinnertime, and asking for a _piece_ (of oat-cake) and a _coguie o' +milk_, would make his dinner off those content, and leave a trifle +behind him in acknowledgment. But he would always contrive that as the +gloamin began to fall, he should be near Howglen, that he might inquire +after his friend. And Mrs Forbes began to understand him +better.--Before the week was over, there was not a man or woman about +Howglen whom he did not know even by name; for to his surprise, even +his forgetfulness was fast vanishing in the menstruum of the +earth-spirit, the world's breath blown over the corn. In particular he +had made the acquaintance of James Dow, with whose knowing simplicity +he was greatly taken. + +On the last day but one of his intended stay, as he went to make his +daily inquiry, he dropped in to see James Dow in the "harled +hypocrite." James had come in from his work, and was sitting alone on a +bench by the table, in a corner of the earth-floored kitchen. The great +pot, lidless, and full of magnificent potatoes, was hanging above the +fire, that its contents might be quite dry for supper. Through the +little window, a foot and a half square, Cupples could see the remains +of a hawthorn hedge, a hundred years old--a hedge no longer, but a row +of knobby, gnarled trees, full of knees and elbows; and through the +trees the remains of an orange-coloured sunset.--It was not a beautiful +country, as I have said before; but the spring was beautiful, and the +heavens were always beautiful; and, like the plainest woman's face, the +country itself, in its best moods, had no end of beauty. + +"Hoo are ye, Jeames Doo?" + +"Fine, I thank ye, sir," said James rising. + +"I wad raither sit doon mysel', nor gar you stan' up efter yer day's +work, Jeames." + +"Ow! I dinna warstle mysel' to the deith a'thegither." + +But James, who was not a healthy man, was often in the wet field when +another would have been in bed, and righteously in bed. He had a strong +feeling of the worthlessness of man's life in comparison with the work +he has to do, even if that work be only the spreading of a fother of +dung. His mistress could not keep him from his work. + +Mr Cupples sat down, and James resumed his seat. + +"Ye're awfu' dubby (miry) aboot the feet, Mr Cupples. Jist gie me aff +yer shune, and I'll gie them a scrape and a lick wi' the +blackin'-brush," said James, again rising. + +"Deil tak' me gin I do ony sic thing!" exclaimed Mr Cupples. "My +shune'll do weel eneuch." + +"Whaur got ye a' that dub, sir? The roads is middlin' the day." + +"I dinna aye stick to the roads, Jeames. I wan intil a bog first, and +syne intil some plooed lan' that was a' lumps o' clay shinin' green i' +the sun. Sae it's nae wonner gin I be some clortit. Will ye gie me a +pitawta, Jeames, in place o' the blackin'-brush?" + +"Ay, twenty. But winna ye bide till Mysie comes in, and hae a drappy +milk wi' them? They're fine pitawtas the year." + +"Na, na, I haena time." + +"Weel, jist dip into the pot, and help yersel', sir; and I'll luik for +a grainy o' saut." + +"Hoo's yer mistress, Jeames? A fine woman that!" + +"Nae that ill, but some forfochten wi' norsin' Mr Alec. Eh! sir, that's +a fine lad, gin he wad only haud steady." + +"I'm thinkin' he winna gang far wrang again. He's gotten the arles +(earnest) and he winna want the wages.--That's a fine lassie that's +bidin' wi' them--Annie Anderson they ca' her." + +"'Deed is she, sir. I kent her father afore her day, and I hae kent her +sin ever she had a day. She's ane o' the finest bairns ever was seen." + +"Is she ony relation to the mistress?" + +"Ow, na. Nae mair relation nor 'at a' gude fowk's sib." + +And Dow told Cupples the girl's story, including the arrangement made +with Bruce in which he had had a principal part. + +"_Annie Anderson_--I canna mak' oot whaur I hae heard her name afore." + +"Ye're bidin' at Bruce's, arena ye, Mr Cupples?" + +"Ay. That is, I'm sleepin' there, and payin' for't." + +"Weel, I hae little doobt ye hae heard it there." + +"I dinna think it. But maybe.--What kin' o' chiel' 's Bruce?" + +"He's terrible greedy." + +"A moudiwarp (mole) wi' ae ee wad see that afore he had winkit twice." + +"'Deed micht he." + +"Is he honest?" + +"That's hard to answer. But I s' gar him be honest wi' regaird to her, +gin I can." + +"Wad he chait?" + +"Ay. Na. He wadna chait _muckle_. I wadna turn my back till him, +though, ohn keekit ower my shouther to haud him sicker. He wadna min' +doin' ill that gude micht come." + +"Ay, ay; I ken him.--And the _ill_ wad be whatever hurtit anither man, +and the _gude_ whatever furthered himsel?" said Mr Cupples as he dipped +the last morsel of his third potato in the salt which he held in the +palm of his left hand. + +"Ye hae said it, Mr Cupples." + +And therewith, Mr Cupples bade James good-night, and went to _the +hoose_. + +There he heard the happy news that Alec insisted on seeing him. Against +her will, Mrs Forbes had given in, as the better alternative to vexing +him. The result of the interview was, that Cupples sat up with him that +night, and Mrs Forbes and Annie both slept. In the morning he found a +bed ready for him, to which he reluctantly betook himself and slept for +a couple of hours. The end of it was, that he did not go back to Mr +Bruce's except to pay his bill. Nor did he leave Howglen for many +weeks. + +At length, one lovely morning, when the green corn lay soaking in the +yellow sunlight, and the sky rose above the earth deep and pure and +tender like the thought of God about it, Alec became suddenly aware +that life was good, and the world beautiful. He tried to raise himself, +but failed. Cupples was by his side in a moment. Alec held out his hand +with his old smile so long disused. Cupples propped him up with +pillows, and opened the window that the warm waves of the air might +break into the cave where he had lain so long deaf to its noises and +insensible to its influences. The tide flowed into his chamber like +Pactolus, all golden with sunbeams. He lay with his hands before him +and his eyes closed, looking so happy that Cupples gazed with reverent +delight, for he thought he was praying. But he was only blessed. So +easily can God make a man happy! The past had dropped from him like a +wild but weary and sordid dream. He was reborn, a new child, in a new +bright world, with a glowing summer to revel in. One of God's lyric +prophets, the larks, was within earshot, pouring down a vocal summer of +jubilant melody. The lark thought nobody was listening but his wife; +but God heard in heaven, and the young prodigal heard on the earth. He +would be a good child henceforth, for one bunch of sunrays was enough +to be happy upon. His mother entered. She saw the beauty upon her boy's +worn countenance; she saw the noble watching love on that of his +friend; her own filled with light, and she stood transfixed and silent. +Annie entered, gazed for a moment, fled to her own room, and burst into +adoring tears.--For she had seen the face of God, and that face was +Love--love like the human, only deeper, deeper--tenderer, lovelier, +stronger. She could not recall what she had seen, or how she had known +it; but the conviction remained that she had seen his face, and that it +was infinitely beautiful. + +"He has been wi' me a' the time, my God! He gied me my father, and sent +Broonie to tak' care o' me, and Dooie, and Thomas Crann, and Mrs +Forbes, and Alec. And he sent the cat whan I gaed till him aboot the +rottans. An' he's been wi' me I kenna hoo lang, and he's wi' me noo. +And I hae seen his face, and I'll see his face again. And I'll try sair +to be a gude bairn. Eh me! It's jist wonnerfu! And God's +jist....naething but God himsel'." + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXX. + + +Although Mr Cupples had been educated for the Church, and was indeed at +this present time a licentiate, he had given up all thought of pursuing +what had been his mother's ambition rather than his own choice. But his +thoughts had not ceased to run in some of the old grooves, although a +certain scepticism would sometimes set him examining those grooves to +find out whether they had been made by the wheels of the +gospel-chariot, or by those of Juggernaut in the disguise of a Hebrew +high priest, drawn by a shouting Christian people. Indeed, as soon as +he ceased to go to church, which was soon after ceasing to regard the +priesthood as his future profession, he began to look at many things +from points of view not exclusively ecclesiastical. So that, although +he did go to church at Glamerton for several Sundays, the day arriving +when he could not face it again, he did not scruple to set off for the +hills. Coming home with a great grand purple foxglove in his hand, he +met some of the missionars returning from their chapel, and amongst the +rest Robert Bruce, who stopped and spoke. + +"I'm surprised to see ye carryin' that thing o' the Lord's day, Mr +Cupples. Fowk'll think ill o' ye." + +"Weel, ye see, Mr Bruce, it angert me sae to see the ill-faured thing +positeevely growin' there upo' the Lord's day, that I pu'd it up 'maist +by the reet. To think o' a weyd like that prankin' itsel' oot in its +purple and its spots upo' the Sawbath day! It canna ken what it's +aboot. I'm only feared I left eneuch o' 't to be up again afore lang." + +"I doobt, Mr Cupples, ye haena come unner the pooer o' grace yet." + +"A pour o' creysh (grease)! Na, thank ye. I dinna want to come unner a +pour o' creysh. It wad blaud me a'thegither. Is that the gait ye +baptize i' your conventicle?" + +"There's nane sae deif's them 'at winna hear, Mr Cupples," said Bruce. +"I mean--ye're no convertit yet." + +"Na. I'm no convertit. 'Deed no. I wadna like to be convertit. What wad +ye convert me till? A swine? Or a sma' peddlin' crater that tak's a +bawbee mair for rowin' up the pigtail in a foul paper? Ca' ye that +conversion? I'll bide as I am." + +"It's waste o' precious time speikin' to you, Mr Cupples," returned +Bruce, moving off with a red face. + +"'Deed is't," retorted Cupples; "and I houp ye winna forget the fac'? +It's o' consequens to me." + +But he had quite another word on the same subject for Annie Anderson, +whom he overtook on her way to Howglen--she likewise returning from the +missionar kirk. + +"Isna that a bonnie ring o' _deid man's bells_, Annie?" said he, +holding out the foxglove, and calling it by its name in that part of +the country. + +"Ay is't. But that was ower muckle a flooer to tak' to the kirk wi' ye. +Ye wad gar the fowk lauch." + +"What's the richt flooer to tak' to the kirk, Annie?" + +"Ow! sober floories that smell o' the yird (earth), like." + +"Ay! ay! Sic like's what?" asked Cupples, for he had found in Annie a +poetic nature that delighted him. + +"Ow! sic like's thyme and southren-wood, and maybe a bittie o' +mignonette." + +"Ay! ay! And sae the cowmon custom abuses you, young, bonnie lammies o' +the flock. Wadna ye tak' the rose o' Sharon itsel', nor the fire-reid +lilies that made the text for the Saviour's sermon? Ow! na. Ye maun be +sober, wi' flooers bonnie eneuch, but smellin' o' the kirkyard raither +nor the blue lift, which same's the sapphire throne o' Him that sat +thereon." + +"Weel, but allooin' that, ye sudna gar fowk lauch, wi' a bonnie flooer, +but ridickleous for the size o' 't, 'cep' ye gie 't room. A kirk's ower +little for't." + +"Ye're richt there, my dawtie. And I haena been to the kirk ava'. I hae +been to the hills." + +"And what got ye there?" + +"I got this upo' the road hame." + +"But what got ye there?" + +"Weel, I got the blue lift." + +"And what was that to ye?" + +"It _said_ to me that I was a foolish man to care aboot the claiks and +the strifes o' the warl'; for a' was quaiet aboon, whatever stramash +they micht be makin' doon here i' the cellars o' the speeritual +creation." + +Annie was silent: while she did not quite understand him, she had a dim +perception of a grand meaning in what he said. + +The fact was that Annie was the greater of the two _in esse_; Cupples +the greater _in posse_. His imagination let him see things far beyond +what he could for a long time attain unto. + +"But what got ye at the kirk, Annie?" + +"Weel, I canna say I got verra muckle the day. Mr Turnbull's text was, +'Thou, Lord, art merciful, for thou renderest to every man according to +his works.'" + +"Ye micht hae gotten a hantel oot o' that." + +"Ay. But ye see, he said the Lord was merciful to ither fowk whan he +rendert to the wicked the punishment due to them. And I cudna richtly +feel i' my hert that I cud praise the Lord for that mercy." + +"I dinna wonner, my bairn." + +"But eh! Mr Cupples, Mr Turnbull's no like that aye. He's bonnie upo' +the Gospel news. I wiss ye wad gang and hear him the nicht. I canna +gang, cause Mrs Forbes is gaun oot." + +"I'll gang and hear him, to please you, my lassie; for, as I said, I +haena been to the kirk the day." + +"But do ye think it's richt to brak the Sawbath, Mr Cupples?" + +"Ay and no." + +"I dinna unnerstan' ye." + +"What the clergy ca' brakin' the Sawbath's no brakin' o' 't. I'll tell +ye what seems to me the differ atween the like o' your Mr Turnbull and +the Pharisees--and it's a great differ. They band heavy burdens and +grievous to be borne, and laid them upo' men's shouthers, but wadna +touch sic like to carry them wi' ane o' their fingers: Mr Turnbull and +the like o' him beirs their share. But the burden's nane the less a +heavy ane and grievous to be borne." + +"But the burden's no _that_ grievous to me, Mr Cupples." + +"There's no sayin' what you women-fowk will _not_ tak' a pleesur' in +bearin'; but the passage refers expressly to the men's shouthers. And +faith mine _will_ not endure to be loadent wi' ither fowks fykes +(trifles). And sae come alang, deid man's bells." + +Annie thought all this rather dreadful, but she was not shocked as a +Christian who lives by the clergy and their traditions, instead of by +the fresh Spirit of God, would have been. For she could not help seeing +that there was truth in it. + +But although Cupples could say much to set Annie thinking, and although +she did find enlightenment at last from pondering over his words, yet +she could have told him far deeper things than he had yet suspected to +exist. For she knew that the goal of all life is the face of God. +Perhaps she had to learn a yet higher lesson: that our one free home is +the Heart, the eternal lovely Will of God, than that which should fail, +it were better that we and all the worlds should go out in blackness. +But this Will is our Salvation. Because He liveth we shall live also. + +Mr Cupples found in the missionar kirk a certain fervour which pleased +him. For Mr Turnbull, finding that his appeals to the ungodly were now +of little avail to attract listeners of the class, had betaken himself +to the building up of the body of Christ, dwelling in particular upon +the love of the brethren. But how some of them were to be loved, except +with the love of compassionate indignation, even his most rapt listener +Thomas Crann could not have supposed himself capable of explaining. As +I said, however, Mr Cupples found the sermon in some degree impressive, +and was attentive. As he was walking away, questioning with himself, he +heard a voice in the air above him. It came from the lips of Thomas +Crann, who, although stooping from asthma and rheumatism, still rose +nearly a foot above the head of Mr Cupples. + +"I was glaid to see ye at oor kirk, sir," said Thomas. + +"What for that?" returned the librarian, who always repelled first +approaches, in which he was only like Thomas himself, and many other +worthy people, both Scotch and English. + +"A stranger sud aye be welcomed to onybody's hoose." + +"I didna ken it was your hoose." + +"Ow na. It's no my hoose. It's the Lord's hoose. But a smile frae the +servan'-lass that opens the door's something till a man that gangs to +ony hoose for the first time, ye ken," returned Thomas, who, like many +men of rough address, was instantly put upon his good behaviour by the +exhibition of like roughness in another. + +This answer disarmed Cupples. He looked up into Thomas's face, and saw +first a massive chin; then a firmly closed mouth; then a nose, straight +as a Greek's, but bulky and of a rough texture; then two keen grey +eyes, and lastly a big square forehead supported by the two pedestals +of high cheek bones--the whole looking as if it had been hewn out of +his professional granite, or rather as if the look of the granite had +passed into the face that was so constantly bent over it fashioning the +stubborn substance to the yet more stubborn human will. And Cupples not +only liked the face, but felt that he was in the presence of one of the +higher natures of the world--made to command, or rather, which is far +better, to influence. Before he had time to reply, however, Thomas +resumed: + +"Ye hae had a heap o' tribble, I doobt, wi' that laddie, Alec Forbes." + +"Naething mair nor was nateral," answered Cupples. + +"He's a fine crater, though. I ken that weel. Is he come back, do ye +think?" + +"What do ye mean? He's lyin' in's bed, quaiet eneuch, puir fallow!" + +"Is he come back to the fold?" + +"Nae to the missionars, I'm thinkin'." + +"Dinna anger me. Ye're nae sae ignorant as ye wad pass for. Ye ken weel +eneuch what I mean. What care I for the missionars mair nor ony ither +o' the Lord's fowk, 'cep that they're mair like his fowk nor ony ither +that I hae seen?" + +"Sic like's Robert Bruce, for a sample." + +Thomas stopped as if he had struck against a stone wall, and went back +on his track. + +"What I want to ken is whether Alec unnerstans yet that the prodigal's +aye ill aff; and--" + +"Na," interrupted Cupples. "He's never been cawed to the swine yet. Nor +he sudna be, sae lang's I had a saxpence to halve wi' him." + +"Ye're no richt, frien', _there_. The suner a prodigal comes to the +swine the better!" + +"Ay; that's what you richteous elder brithers think. I ken that weel +eneuch." + +"Mr Cupples, I'm nae elder brither i' that sense. God kens I wad gang +oot to lat him in." + +"What ken ye aboot him, gin it be a fair queston?" + +"I hae kent him, sir, sin he was a bairn. I perilled his life--no my +ain--to gar him do his duty. I trust in God it wad hae been easier for +me to hae perilled my ain. Sae ye see I do ken aboot him." + +"Weel," said Mr Cupples, to whom the nature of Thomas had begun to open +itself, "I alloo that. Whaur do ye bide? What's yer name? I'll come and +see ye the morn's nicht, gin ye'll lat me." + +"My name's Thomas Crann. I'm a stonemason. Speir at Robert Bruce's +chop, and they'll direc ye to whaur I bide. Ye may come the morn's +nicht, and welcome. Can ye sup parritch?" + +"Ay, weel that." + +"My Jean's an extrornar han' at parritch. I only houp puir Esau had +half as guid for's birthricht. Ye'll hae a drappy wi' me?" + +"Wi' a' my hert," answered Cupples. + +And here their ways diverged. + +When he reached home, he asked Annie about Thomas. Annie spoke of him +in the highest terms, adding, + +"I'm glaid ye like him, Mr Cupples." + +"I dinna think, wi' sic an opingon o' 'm, it can maitter muckle to you +whether I like him or no," returned Mr Cupples, looking at her +quizzically. + +"Na, nae muckle as regairds him. But it says weel for you, ye ken, Mr +Cupples," replied Annie archly. + +Mr Cupples laughed good-humouredly, and said, + +"Weel, I s' gang and see him the morn's nicht, ony gait." + +And so he did. And the porridge and the milk were both good. + +"This is heumble fare, Mr Cupples," said Thomas. + +"It maitters little compairateevely what a man lives upo'," said +Cupples sententiously, "sae it be first-rate o' 'ts ain kin'. And this +_is_ first-rate." + +"Tak' a drappy mair, sir." + +"Na, nae mair, I thank ye." + +"They'll be left, gin ye dinna." + +"Weel, sen' them ower to Mr Bruce," said Cupples, with a sly wink. "I +s' warran' he'll coup them ower afore they sud be wastit. He canna bide +waste." + +"Weel, that's a vertue. The Saviour himsel' garred them gaither up the +fragments." + +"Nae doobt. But I'm feared Bruce wad hae coontit the waste by hoo mony +o' the baskets gaed by his door. I'm surprised at ye, Mr Crann, tryin' +to defen' sic a meeserable crater, jist 'cause he gangs to your kirk." + +"Weel, he is a meeserable crater, and I canna bide him. He's jist a +Jonah in oor ship, an Achan in oor camp. But I sudna speyk sae to ane +that's no a member." + +"Never ye min'. I'm auld eneuch to hae learned to haud my tongue. But +we'll turn till a better subjec'. Jist tell me hoo ye made Alec peril's +life for conscience sake. Ye dinna burn fowk here for nae freely +haudin' by the shorter Carritchis, do ye?" + +And hereupon followed the story of the flood. + +Both these men, notwithstanding the defiance they bore on their +shields, were of the most friendly and communicative disposition. So +soon as they saw that a neighbour was trustworthy, they trusted him. +Hence it is not marvellous that communication should have been mutual. +Cupples told Thomas in return how he had come to know Alec, and what +compact had arisen between them. Thomas, as soon as he understood Mr +Cupples's sacrifice, caught the delicate hand in his granite +grasp--like that with which the steel anvil and the stone block held +Arthur's sword--and said solemnly, + +"Ye hae done a great deed, which winna gang wantin' its reward. It +canna hae merit, but it maun be pleesant in His sicht. Ye hae baith +conquered sin i' yersel, and ye hae turned the sinner frae the error o' +his ways." + +"Hoots!" interrupted Cupples, "do ye think I was gaun to lat the laddie +gang reid-wud to the deevil, ohn stud in afore 'm and cried _Hooly_!" + +After this the two were friends, and met often. Cupples went to the +missionars again and again, and they generally walked away together. + +"What gart ye turn frae the kirk o' yer fathers, and tak to a +conventicle like that, Thomas?" asked Mr Cupples one evening. + +"Ye hae been to them baith, and I wad hae thocht ye wad hae kent better +nor to speir sic a question," answered Thomas. + +"Ay, ay. But what gart ye think o' 't first?" + +"Weel, I'll tell ye the haill story. Whan I was a callan, I took the +play to mysel' for a week, or maybe twa, and gaed wi' a frien' i' the +same trade's mysel', to see what was to be seen alang a screed o' the +sea-coast, frae toon to toon. My compaingon wasna that gude at the +traivellin'; and upo' the Setterday nicht, there we war in a +public-hoose, and him no able to gang ae fit further, for sair heels +and taes. Sae we bude to bide still ower the Sawbath, though we wad +fain hae been oot' o' the toon afore the kirk began. But seein' that we +cudna, I thocht it wad be but dacent to gang to the kirk like ither +fowk, and sae I made mysel' as snod as I could, and gaed oot. And afore +I had gane mony yairds, I cam upo' fowk gaein to the kirk. And sae I +loot the stream carry me alang wi' 't, and gaed in and sat doon, though +the place wasna exackly like a kirk a'thegither. But the minister had a +gift o' prayer and o' preaching as weel; and the fowk a' sang as gin't +was pairt o' their business to praise God, for fear he wad tak it frae +them and gie't to the stanes. Whan I cam oot, and was gaein quaietly +back to the public, there cam first ae sober-luikin man up to me, and +he wad hae me hame to my denner; and syne their cam an auld man, and +efter that a man that luikit like a sutor, and ane and a' o' them wad +hae me hame to my denner wi' them--for no airthly rizzon but that I was +a stranger. But ye see I cudna gang 'cause my frien' was waitin' for +his till I gaed back. Efter denner, I speirt at the landlady gin she +cud tell me what they ca'd themsels, the fowk 'at gathered i' that +pairt o' the toon; and says she, 'I dinna ken what they ca' +them--they're nae customers o' mine--but I jist ken this, they're +hard-workin' fowk, kind to ane anither. A'body trusts their word. Gif +ony o' them be sick, the rest luiks efter them till they're better; and +gin ony o' them happens to gang the wrang gait, there's aye three or +four o' them aboot him, till they get him set richt again. 'Weel,' says +I, 'I dinna care what they ca' them; but gin ever I jine ony kirk, that +s' be the kirk.' Sae, efter that, whan ance I had gotten a sure houp, a +rael grun' for believin' that I was ane o' the called and chosen, I +jist jined mysel' to them that sud be like them--for they ca'd them a' +Missionars." + +"Is that lang sin syne?" + +"Ay, it's twenty year noo." + +"I thocht as muckle. I doobt they hae fared like maist o' the new +fashions." + +"Hoo that?" + +"Grown some auld themsel's. There's a feow signs o' decrepitude, no to +say degeneracy, amo' ye, isna there?" + +"I maun alloo that. At the first, things has a kin' o' a swing that +carries them on. But the sons an' the dochters dinna care sae muckle +aboot them as the fathers and mithers. Maybe they haena come throw the +hards like them." + +"And syne there'll be ane or twa cruppen in like that chosen vessel o' +grace they ca' Robert Bruce. I'm sure he's eneuch to ruin ye i' the +sicht o' the warl', hooever you and he may fare at heid-quarters, bein' +a' called and chosen thegither." + +"For God's sake, dinna think that sic as him gies ony token o' being +ane o' the elec." + +"Hoo wan he in than? They say ye're unco' particular. The Elec sud ken +an elec." + +"It's the siller, man, that blin's the een o' them that hae to sit in +jeedgment upo' the applicants. The crater professed, and they war jist +ower willin' to believe him." + +"Weel, gin that be the case, I dinna see that ye're sae far aheid o' +fowk that disna mak' sae mony pretensions." + +"Indeed, Mr Cupples, I fully doobt that the displeesur o' the Almichty +is restin' upo' oor kirk; and Mr Turnbull, honest man, appears to feel +the wacht o' 't. We hae mair than ae instance i' the Scriptur o' a +haill community sufferin' for the sin o' ane." + +"Do ye ken ony instance o' a gude man no bein' able to win in to your +set?" + +"Ay, ane, I think. There was a fule body that wantit sair to sit doon +wi' 's. But what cud we do? We cudna ken whether he had savin' grace or +no, for the body cudna speyk that a body cud unnerstan' him?" + +"And ye didna lat him sit doon wi' ye?" + +"Na. Hoo cud we?" + +"The Lord didna dee for him, did he?" + +"We cudna tell." + +"And what did the puir cratur do?" + +"He grat" (wept). + +"And hoo cam' ye to see that ye wad hae been a' the better o' a wee +mair pooer to read the heart?" + +"Whan the cratur was deein', the string o' his tongue, whether that +string lay in his mou', or in his brain, was lousened, and he spak' +plain, and he praised God." + +"Weel, I can_not_ see that your plan, haudin' oot innocents that lo'e +Him, and lattin in thieves that wad steal oot o' the Lord's ain +bag--gie them a chance--can be an impruvment upo' the auld fashion o' +settin' a man to judge himsel', and tak the wyte o' the jeedgment upo' +'s ain shouthers." + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXXI. + + +Annie began to perceive that it was time for her to go, partly from the +fact that she was no longer wanted so much, and partly from finding in +herself certain conditions of feeling which she did not know what to do +with. + +"Annie's coming back to you in a day or two, Mr Bruce," said Mrs +Forbes, having called to pay some of her interest, and wishing to +prepare the way for her return. "She has been with me a long time, but +you know she was ill, and I could not part with her besides." + +"Weel, mem," answered Bruce, "we'll be verra happy to tak' her hame +again, as sune's ye hae had a' the use ye want o' her." + +He had never assumed this tone before, either to Mrs Forbes or with +regard to Annie. But she took no notice of it. + +Both Mr and Mrs Bruce received the girl so kindly that she did not know +what to make of it. Mr Bruce especially was all sugar and +butter--rancid butter of course. When she went up to her old +rat-haunted room, her astonishment was doubled. For the holes in floor +and roof had been mended; the sky-light was as clean as glass a hundred +years old could be; a square of carpet lay in the middle of the floor; +and cheque-curtains adorned the bed. She concluded that these luxuries +had been procured for Mr Cupples, but could not understand how they +came to be left for her. + +Nor did the consideration shown her decrease after the first novelty of +her return had worn off; and altogether the main sources of her former +discomfort had ceased to flow. The baby had become a sweet-tempered +little girl; Johnnie was at school all day; and Robert was a +comparatively well-behaved, though still sulky youth. He gave himself +great airs to his former companions, but to Annie he was condescending. +He was a good student, and had the use of _the room_ for a study. + +Robert Bruce the elder had disclosed his projects to his heir, and he +had naturally declined all effort for their realization. But he began +at length to observe that Annie had grown very pretty; and then he +thought it would be a nice thing to fall in love with her, since, from +his parents' wishes to that end, she must have some money. Annie, +however, did not suspect anything, till, one day, she overheard the +elder say to the younger, + +"Ye dinna push, man. Gang benn to the chop and get a cnottie o' reid +candy-sugar, and gie her that the neist time ye see her her lane. The +likes o' her kens what that means. And gin she tak's 't frae ye, ye may +hae the run o' the drawer. It's worth while, ye ken. Them 'at winna saw +winna reap." + +From that moment she was on her guard. Nor did she give the youth a +chance of putting his father's advice into operation. + +Meantime Alec got better and better, went out with Mr Cupples in the +gig, ate like an ogre, drank like a hippopotamus, and was rapidly +recovering his former strength. As he grew better, his former grief did +draw nearer, but such was the freshness of his new life, that he seemed +to have died and risen again like Lazarus, leaving his sorrow behind +him in the grave, to be communed with only in those dim seasons when +ghosts walk. + +One evening over their supper, he was opposing Mr Cupples's departure +for the twentieth time. At length the latter said: + +"Alec, I'll bide wi' ye till the neist session upon ae condition." + +"What is that, Mr Cupples?" said Mrs Forbes. "I shall be delighted to +know it." + +"Ye see, mem, this young rascal here made a fule o' 'msel' last session +and didna pass; and--" + +"Let bygones be bygones, if you please, Mr Cupples, said Mrs Forbes +pleasantly. + +"'Deed no, mem. What's the use o' byganes but to learn frae them hoo to +meet the bycomes? Ye'll please to hear me oot; and gin Alec doesna like +to hear me, he maun jist sit _and_ hear me." + +"Fire away, Mr Cupples," said Alec. + +"I will.--For them that didna pass i' the en' o' the last session, +there's an examination i' the beginnin' o' the neist--gin they like to +stan' 't. Gin they dinna, they maun gang throu the same classes ower +again, and stan' the examination at the end--that is, gin they want a +degree; and that's a terrible loss o' time for the start. Noo, gin +Alec'll set to wark like a man, I'll help him a' that I can; and by the +gatherin' again, he'll be up wi' the lave o' the fleet. Faith! I'll sit +like Deith i' the spectre-bark, and blaw intil his sails a' that I can +blaw. Maybe ye dinna ken that verse i' _The Rhyme o' the Ancient +Mariner_? It was left oot o' the later editions: + + 'A gust of wind sterte up behind, + And whistled through his bones; + Through the holes of his eyes and the hole of his mouth, + Half-whistles and half-groans.' + +There! that's spicy--for them 'at likes ghaistry." + +That very day Alec resumed. Mr Cupples would not let him work a moment +after he began to show symptoms of fatigue. But the limit was moved +further and further every day, till at length he could work four hours. +His tutor would not hear of any further extension, and declared he +would pass triumphantly. + +The rest of the summer-day they spent in wandering about, or lying in +the grass, for it was a hot and dry summer, so that the grass was a +very bed of health. Then came all the pleasures of the harvest. And +when the evenings grew cool, there were the books that Mr Cupples +foraged for in Glamerton, seeming to find them by the scent. + +And Mr Cupples tried to lead Alec into philosophical ways of regarding +things; for he had just enough of religion to get some good of +philosophy--which itself is the religion of skeletons. + +"Ye see," he would say, "it's pairt o' the machine. What a body has to +do is to learn what pinion or steam-box, or piston, or muckle +water-wheel he represents, and stick to that, defyin' the deevil, whase +wark is to put the machine out o' gear. And sae he maun grin' awa', and +whan Deith comes, he'll say, as Andrew Wylie did--'Weel run, little +wheelie!' and tak' him awa' wi' him some gait or ither, whaur, maybe, +he may mak' choice o' his ain machine for the neist trial." + +"That's some cauld doctrine, Mr Cupples," Alec would say. + +"Weel," he would return with a smile, "gang to yer frien' Thamas Crann, +and he'll gie ye something a hantle better. That's ane o' the maist +extrornar men I ever made acquantance wi'. He'll gie ye divine +philosophy--a dooms sicht better nor mine. But, eh! he's saft for a' +that." + +Annie would have got more good from these readings than either of them. +Mr Cupples was puzzled to account for her absence, but came to see into +the mother's defensive strategy, who had not yet learned to leave such +things to themselves; though she might have known by this time that the +bubbles of scheming mothers, positive or negative, however well-blown, +are in danger of collapsing into a drop of burning poison. He missed +Annie very much, and went often to see her, taking her what books he +could. With one or other of these she would wander along the banks of +the clear brown Glamour, now watching it as it subdued its rocks or lay +asleep in its shadowy pools, now reading a page or two, or now seating +herself on the grass, and letting the dove of peace fold its wings upon +her bosom. Even her new love did not more than occasionally ruffle the +flow of her inward river. She had long cherished a deeper love, which +kept it very calm. Her stillness was always wandering into prayer; but +never did she offer a petition that associated Alec's fate with her +own; though sometimes she would find herself holding up her heart like +an empty cup which knew that it was empty. She missed Tibbie Dyster +dreadfully. + +One day, thinking she heard Mr Cupples come upstairs, she ran down with +a smile on her face, which fell off it like a withered leaf when she +saw no one there but Robert the student. He, taking the smile for +himself, rose and approached her with an ugly response on his heavy +countenance. She turned and flew up again to her room; whither to her +horror he followed her, demanding a kiss. An ordinary Scotch maiden of +Annie's rank would have answered such a request from a man she did not +like with a box on the ear, tolerably delivered; but Annie was too +proud even to struggle, and submitted like a marble statue, except that +she could not help wiping her lips after the salute. The youth walked +away more discomfited than if she had made angry protestations, and a +successful resistance. + +Annie sat down and cried. Her former condition in the house was +enviable to this.--That same evening, without saying a word to any one, +for there was a curious admixture of outward lawlessness with the +perfect inward obedience of the girl, she set out for Clippenstrae, on +the opposite bank of the Wan Water. It was a gorgeous evening. The sun +was going down in purple and crimson, divided by such bars of gold as +never grew in the mines of Ophir. A faint rosy mist hung its veil over +the hills about the sunset; and a torrent of red light streamed down +the westward road by which she went. The air was soft, and the light +sobered with a sense of the coming twilight. It was such an evening as +we have, done into English, in the ninth Evening Voluntary of +Wordsworth. And Annie felt it such. Thank God, is does not need a +poetic education to feel such things. It needs a poetic education to +_say_ such things so, that another, not seeing, yet shall see; but that +such a child as Annie should not be able to feel them, would be the one +argument to destroy our belief in the genuineness of the poet's vision. +For if so, can the vision have come from Nature's self? Has it not +rather been evoked by the magic rod of the poet's will from his own +chambers of imagery? + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXXII. + + +When she reached Clippenstrae, she found that she had been sent there. +Her aunt came from the inner room as she opened the door, and she knew +at once by her face that Death was in the house. For its expression +recalled the sad vision of her father's departure. Her great-uncle, the +little grey-headed old cottar in the Highland bonnet, lay dying--in the +Highland bonnet still. He was going to "the land o' the Leal" (loyal), +the true-hearted, to wait for his wife, whose rheumatism was no chariot +of fire for swiftness, whatever it might be for pain, to bear her to +the "high countries." He has had nothing to do with our story, save +that once he made our Annie feel that she had a home. And to give that +feeling to another is worth living for, and justifies a place in any +story like mine. + +Auntie Meg's grief appeared chiefly in her nose; but it was none the +less genuine for that, for her nature was chiefly nose. She led the way +into the death-room--it could hardly be called the sick-room--and Annie +followed. By the bedside sat, in a high-backed chair, an old woman with +more wrinkles in her face than moons in her life. She was perfectly +calm, and looked like one, already half-across the river, watching her +friend as he passed her towards the opposing bank. The old man lay with +his eyes closed. As soon as he knew that he was dying he had closed his +eyes, that the dead orbs might not stare into the faces of the living. +It had been a whim of his for years. He would leave the house decent +when his lease was up. And the will kept pressing down the lids which +it would soon have no power to lift. + +"Ye're come in time," said Auntie Meg, and whispered to the old +woman--"My brither Jeames's bairn." + +"Ay, ye're come in time, lassie," said the great-aunt kindly, and said +no more. + +The dying man heard the words, opened his eyes, glanced once at Annie, +and closed them again. + +"Is that ane o' the angels come?" he asked, for his wits were gone a +little way before. + +"Na, weel I wat!" said the hard-mouthed ungracious Meg. "It's Annie +Anderson, Jeames Anderson's lass." + +The old man put his hand feebly from under the bed-clothes. + +"I'm glad to see ye, dawtie," he said, still without opening his eyes. +"I aye wantit to see mair o' ye, for ye're jist sic a bairn as I wad +hae likit to hae mysel' gin it had pleased the Lord. Ye're a douce, +God-fearin' lassie, and He'll tak care o' his ain." + +Here his mind began to wander again. + +"Marget," he said, "is my een steekit, for I think I see angels?" + +"Ay are they--close eueuch." + +"Weel, that's verra weel. I'll hae a sleep noo." + +He was silent for some time. Then he reverted to the fancy that Annie +was the first of the angels come to carry away his soul, and murmured +brokenly: + +"Whan ye tak' it up, be carefu' hoo ye han'le 't, baith for it's some +weyk, and for it's no ower clean, and micht blaud the bonnie white +han's o' sic God-servers as yersels. I ken mysel there's ae spot ower +the hert o' 't, whilk cam o' an ill word I gied a bairn for stealin' a +neep. But they did steal a hantle that year. And there's anither spot +upo' the richt han', whilk cam o' ower gude a bargain I made wi' auld +John Thamson at Glass fair. And it wad never come oot wi' a' the soap +and water--Hoots, I'm haverin'! It's upo' the han' o' my soul, whaur +soap and water can never come. Lord, dight it clean, and I'll gie him +'t a' back whan I see him in thy kingdom. And I'll beg his pardon +forbye. But I didna chait him a'thegither. I only tuik mair nor I wad +hae gi'en for the colt mysel'. And min' ye dinna lat me fa', gaein' +throu the lift." + +He went on thus, with wandering thoughts that in their wildest vagaries +were yet tending homeward; and which when least sound, were yet busy +with the wisest of mortal business--repentance. By degrees he fell into +a slumber, and from that, about midnight, into a deeper sleep. + +The next morning, Annie went out. She could not feel oppressed or +sorrowful at such a death, and she would walk up the river to the +churchyard where her father lay. The Wan Water was shallow, and +therefore full of talk about all the things that were deep secrets when +its bosom was full. Along great portions of its channel, the dry stones +lay like a sea-beach. They had been swept from the hills in the +torrents of its autumnal fury. The fish did not rise, for the heat made +them languid. No trees sheltered them from the rays of the sun. Both +above and below, the banks were rugged, and the torrent strong; but at +this part the stream flowed through level fields. Here and there a +large piece had cracked off and fallen from the bank, to be swept away +in the next flood; but meantime the grass was growing on it, greener +than anywhere else. The corn would come close to the water's edge and +again sweep away to make room for cattle and sheep; and here and there +a field of red clover lay wavering between shadow and shine. She went +up a long way, and then crossing some fields, came to the churchyard. +She did not know her father's grave, for no stone marked the spot where +he sank in this broken earthy sea. There was no church: its memory even +had vanished. It seemed as if the churchyard had swallowed the church +as the heavenly light shall one day swallow the sun and the moon; and +the lake of divine fire shall swallow death and hell. She lingered a +little, and then set out on her slow return, often sitting down on the +pebbles, sea-worn ages before the young river had begun to play with +them. + +Resting thus about half way home, she sang a song which she had found +in her father's old song-book. She had said it once to Alec and Curly, +but they did not care much for it, and she had not thought of it again +till now. + + "Ane by ane they gang awa'. + The gatherer gathers great an' sma'. + Ane by ane maks ane an' a'. + + Aye whan ane is ta'en frae ane, + Ane on earth is left alane, + Twa in heaven are knit again. + + Whan God's hairst is in or lang, + Golden-heidit, ripe, and thrang, + Syne begins a better sang." + +She looked up, and Curly was walking through the broad river to where +she sat. + +"I kent ye a mile aff, Annie," he said. + +"I'm glaid to see ye, Curly." + +"I wonner gin ye'll be as glaid to see me the neist time, Annie." + +Then Annie perceived that Curly looked earnest and anxious. + +"What do ye say, Curly?" she returned. + +"I hardly ken what I say, Annie, though I ken what I mean. And I dinna +ken what I'm gaun to say neist, but they say the trowth will oot. I +wiss it wad, ohn a body said it." + +"What can be the maitter, Curly?"--Annie was getting frightened.--"It +maun be ill news, or ye wadna luik like that." + +"I doobt it'll be warst news to them that it's nae news till." + +"Ye speyk in riddles, Curly." + +He tried to laugh but succeeded badly, and stood before her, with +downcast eyes, poking his thorn-stick into the mass of pebbles. Annie +waited in silence, and that brought it out at last. + +"Annie, when we war at the schule thegither, I wad hae gien ye +onything. Noo I hae gien ye a' thing, and my hert to the beet (boot) o' +the bargain." + +"Curly!" said Annie, and said no more, for she felt as if her heart +would break. + +"I likit ye at the schule, Annie; but noo there's naething i' the warl +but you." + +Annie rose gently, came close to him, and laying a hand on his arm, +said, + +"I'm richt sorry for ye, Curly." + +He half turned his back, was silent for a moment, and then said coldly, +but in a trembling voice, + +"Dinna distress yersel'. We canna help it." + +"But what'll ye do, Curly?" asked Annie in a tone full of compassionate +loving-kindness, and with her hand still on his arm. "It's sair to +bide." + +"Gude kens that.--I maun jist warstle throu' 't like mony anither. I'll +awa' back to the pig-skin saiddle I was workin' at," said Curly, with a +smile at the bitterness of his fate. + +"It's no that I dinna like ye, Curly. Ye ken that. I wad do anything +for ye that I cud do. Ye hae been a gude frien' to me." + +And here Annie burst out crying. + +"Dinna greit. The Lord preserve's! dinna greit. I winna say anither +word aboot it. What's Curly that sic a ane as you sud greit for him? +Faith! it's nearhan' as guid as gin ye lo'ed me. I'm as prood's a +turkey-cock," averred Curly in a voice ready to break with emotion of a +very different sort from pride. + +"It's a sair thing that things winna gang richt!" said Annie at last, +after many vain attempts to stop the fountain by drying the stream of +her tears.--I believe they were the first words of complaint upon +things in general that she ever uttered. + +"Is't my wyte, Curly?" she added. + +"Deil a bit o' 't!" cried Curly. "And I beg yer pardon for sweirin'. +Your wyte! I was aye a fule. But maybe," he added, brightening a +little, "I micht hae a chance--some day--some day far awa', ye ken, +Annie?" + +"Na, na, Curly. Dinna think o' 't. There's no chance for ye, dear +Curly." + +His face flushed red as a peony. + +"That lick-the-dirt 's no gaun to gar ye marry the colliginer?" + +"Dinna ye be feared that I'll marry onybody I dinna like, Curly." + +"Ye dinna like him. I houp to God!" + +"I canna bide him." + +"Weel, maybe--Wha kens? I _daurna_ despair." + +"Curly, Curly, I maun be honest wi' you, as ye hae been wi' me. Whan +ance a body's seen ane, they canna see anither, ye ken. Wha cud hae +been at the schule as I was sae lang, and syne taen oot o' the water, +ye ken, and syne--?" + +Annie stopped. + +"Gin ye mean Alec Forbes--" said Curly, and stopped too. But presently +he went on again--"Gin I war to come atween Alec Forbes and you, +hangin' wad be ower gude for me. But has Alec--" + +"Na, nae a word. But haud yer tongue. Curly. Ance is a' wi' me.--It's +nae mony lasses wad hae tell't ye sic a thing. But I ken it's richt. +Ye're the only ane that has my secret. Keep it, Curly." + +"Like Deith himsel'," said Curly. "Ye _are_ a braw lass." + +"Ye maunna think ill o' me, Curly. I hae tell't ye the trowth." + +"Jist lat me kiss yer bonnie han' and I'll gang content." + +Wisely done or not, it was truth and tenderness that made her offer her +lips instead. He turned in silence, comforted for the time, though the +comfort would evaporate long before the trouble would sink. + +"Curly!" cried Annie, and he came back. + +"I think that's young Robert Bruce been to Clippenstrae to speir efter +me. Dinna lat him come farther. He's an unceevil fallow." + +"Gin he wins by me, he maun hae mair feathers nor I hae," said Curly, +and walked on. + +Annie followed slowly. When she saw the men meet she sat down. + +Curly spoke first, as he came up. + +"A fine day, Robbie," he said. + +Bruce made no reply, for relations had altered since school-days. It +was an evil moment however in which to carry a high chin to Willie +Macwha, who was out of temper with the whole world except Annie +Anderson. He strode up to the _colliginer_. + +"I said it was a fine day," he repeated. + +"Well, I said nothing to the contrary," answered Bruce, putting on his +English. + +"It's the custom i' this country to mak what answer a man has the sense +to mak whan he's spoken till ceevily." + +"I considered you uncivil." + +"That's jist what a bonnie lassie sittin' yonner said aboot you whan +she prayed me no to lat you gang a step nearer till her." + +Curly found it at the moment particularly agreeable to quarrel. +Moreover he had always disliked Bruce, and now hated him because Annie +had complained of him. + +"I have as much right to walk here as you or any one else," said Bruce. + +"Maybe; but even colliginers doesna aye get their richts. Ae richt +whiles rides upo' the tap o' anither. And Annie Anderson has a richt no +to be disturbit, whan her uncle, honest man, 's jist lyin' waitin' +for's coffin i' the hoose yonner." + +"I'm her cousin." + +"It's sma' comfort ony o' yer breed ever brocht her. Cousin or no, ye +sanna gang near her." + +"I'll go where I please," said Bruce, moving to pass. + +Curly moved right in front of him. + +"By me ye shanna gang. I hae lickit ye afore for bein' ill till her; +and I will again gin ye gang a step nearer till her. She doesna want +ye. Faith I will! But I wad raither no fecht afore her. Sae jist come +back to the toon wi' me, and we'll say nae mair aboot it." + +"I'll see you damned!" said Bruce. + +"Maybe ye may, bein' likly to arrive at the spot first. But i' the mean +time, gin ye dinna want her to see ye lickit, come doon into yon how, +and we'll jist sattle aff han' wha's the best man o' the twa." + +"I won't move a step to please you or any one else," returned Bruce. He +saw that his safety consisted in keeping within sight of Annie. + +Curly saw on his part that, a few steps nearer to where Annie sat, the +path led behind a stunted ash-tree. So he stepped aside with the +proverb, + +"He that will to Coupar, maun to Coupar." + +Without deigning a word, Bruce walked on, full of pride, concluding +that Curly's heart had failed him. But the moment he was behind the +tree, Curly met him from the other side of it. Then Bruce's anger, if +not his courage, rose, and with an oath, he pushed against him to pass. +But the sensation he instantly felt in his nose astonished him; and the +blood beginning to flow cowed him at once. He put his handkerchief to +his face, turned, and walked back to Glamerton. Curly followed him at a +few yards' distance, regretting that he had showed the white feather so +soon, as, otherwise, he would have had the pleasure of thrashing him +properly. He saw him safe in at the back-door, and then went to his own +father's shop. + +After a short greeting, very short on Curly's part, + +"Hoot! Willie," said his father, "what's come ower ye? Ye luik as gin +some lass had said _na_ to ye." + +"Some lasses' _no_ 's better not ither lasses' _ay_, father." + +"Deed mnybe, laddie," said George; adding to himself, "That maun hae +been Annie Anderson--nae ither." + +He was particularly attentive and yielding to Willie during his short +visit, and Willie understood it. + +Had Annie been compelled, by any evil chance, to return to the garret +over Robert Bruce's shop, she would not indeed have found the holes in +the floor and the roof reopened; but she would have found that the +carpet and the curtains were gone. + +The report went through Glamerton that she and Willie Macwha were +_coortin'_. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXXIII. + + +Thomas Crann's conversation with Mr Cupples deepened both his annoyance +and his grief at the membership of Robert Bruce. What was the use of a +church if such men as he got into it, and, having got in, could not be +got out? Had he been guilty of any open _fault_, such as getting drunk, +for one solitary and accidental instance of which they had excluded one +of their best and purest-minded men, they could have got rid of him +with comparative ease; but who so free of fault as Bruce? True, he was +guilty of the crime of over-reaching whenever he had a chance, and of +cheating when there was no risk of being found out--at least so +everybody believed--but he had no faults. The duty, therefore, that lay +upon every member, next to the cleanness of his own garments--that of +keeping the church pure and unspotted--was hard to fulfil, and no one +was ready to undertake it but Thomas Crann. For what a spot was here! +And Thomas knew his Lord's will. + +Neither was the duty so unpleasant to Thomas's oppositive nature, as it +would have been to a man of easier temperament. + +"Jeames Johnstone," he said, "the kirk maks nae progress. It's no as i' +the time o' the apostles whan the saved war added till't daily." + +"Weel, ye see," returned James, "that wasna _oor_ kirk exacly; and it +wasna Mr Turnbull that was the heid o' 't." + +"It's a' the same. The prenciple's the same. An' Mr Turnbull preaches +the same gospel Peter and Paul praiched, and wi' unction too. And yet +here's the congregation dwin'lin' awa', and the church itsel' like +naething but bees efter the brunstane. _I_ say there's an Ahchan i' the +camp--a Jonah i' the vessel--a son o' Saul i' the kingdom o' Dawvid--a +Judas amo' the twal'--a--" + +"Hoots! Thomas Crann; ye're no pittin' a' thae gran' names upo' that +puir feckless body, Rob Bruce, are ye?" + +"He's nane feckless for the deevil's wark or for his ain, which is ae +thing and the same. Oot he maun gang, gin we tak' him by the scruff o' +the neck and the doup o' the breeks." + +"Dinna jeist, Thomas, aboot sic a dangerous thing," said James, mildly +glad of one solitary opportunity of rebuking the granite-minded mason. + +"Jeist! I'm far eneuch frae jeistin'. Ye dinna ken fervour frae jokin', +Jeames Johnstone." + +"He micht tak' the law upo's for defamin' o' 's character; and that wad +be an awfu' thing for puir fowk like us, Thamas." + +"Aye the same thing ower again, Jeames! Shy at a stane, and fa' into +the stank (ditch). That's the pairt o' a colt and no o' a Christian." + +"But arena we tellt to be wise as serpents?" + +"Ye wad tak' a heap o' tellin' upo' that heid, Jeames." + +"Ow, 'deed ay! And I'm no my lane, Thamas. But we _are_ tellt that." + +"The serpent turned oot an ill cooncellor upon ae occasion ower well to +be remembert by Adam's race." + +"The words stan' as I say," persisted James. + +"Ye're no to mak' the serpent yer cooncellor, man. But ance ye ken yer +duty, ye may weel tak example by him hoo to carry 't oot. Did ye ever +see an edder lyin' ower a stane as gin he was naething but a stick +himsel', bidin' 's time? That's me, i' the Scriptur' sense. I'm only +bidin' till I see hoo. A body maunna do ill that gude may come, though +wow! it's a sair temptation whiles; neither maun a body neglec to do +richt for fear that ill may follow." + +"Ay, true that. But ye needna burn the hoose to rid the rottans. I doot +ye'll get's a' into ower het water; and a body needna tak' the skin aff +for the sake o' cleanliness. Jist tak ye tent (care, attention), +Thamas, what ye're aboot." + +Having thus persisted in opposing Thomas to a degree he had never dared +before, James took his departure, pursued by the words: + +"Tak ye care, Jeames, that in savin' the richt han' ye dinna send the +haill body to hell. It was aye yer danger. I never got bauld coonsel +frae ye yet." + +"There's mair vertues i' the Bible nor courage, Thamas," retorted +James, holding the outer door open to throw the sentence in, and +shutting it instantly to escape with the last word. + +Thomas, abandoned to his own resources, meditated long and painfully. +But all he could arrive at was the resolution to have another talk with +Mr Cupples. He might not be a Christian man, but he was an honest and +trustworthy man, and might be able from his scholarship to give him +some counsel. So he walked to Howglen the next day, and found him with +Alec in the harvest-field. And Alec's reception of Thomas showed what a +fine thing illness is for bringing people to their right minds. + +Mr Cupples walked aside with Thomas, and they seated themselves on two +golden sheaves at the foot of a stook. + +"What ye said to me the ither day, sir," began Thomas, "has stucken +fest i' my crap, ever sin' syne. We maun hae him oot." + +"Na, na; ye better lat him sit. He'll haud doon yer pride. That man's a +judgment on ye for wantin' to be better nor yer neebors. Dinna try to +win free o' judgment. But I'll tell ye what I wad hae ye do: Mak muckle +o' 'm. Gie him tether eneuch. He'll gang frae ill to waur, ye may +depen'. He'll steal or a' be dune." + +"To the best o' my belief, sir, that's no to come, He's stolen already, +or I'm sair mista'en." + +"Ay! Can ye pruv that? That's anither maitter," returned Cupples, +beginning to be interested. + +"I dinna ken whether I oucht to hae mentioned it to ane that wasna a +member, though; but it jist cam oot o' 'tsel' like." + +"Sae the fac' that a man's a member wha's warst crime may be that he is +a member, maks him sic precious gear that he maunna be meddlet wi' i' +the presence o' an honest man, wha, thank God, has neither pairt nor +lot in ony sic maitter?" + +"Dinna be angry, Mr Cupples. I'll tell ye a' aboot it," pleaded Thomas, +than who no man could better recognize good sense. + +But the Cosmo Cupples who thus attracted the confidence of Thomas Crann +was a very different man from the Cosmo Cupples whom first Alec Forbes +went to the garret to see at his landlady's suggestion. All the +flabbiness had passed from his face, and his eyes shone clearer than +ever from a clear complexion. His mouth still gave a first impression +of unsteadiness; no longer, however, from the formlessness of the loose +lips, but from the continual flickering of a nascent smile that rippled +their outline with long wavy motions of evanescent humour. His dress +was still careless, but no longer neglected, and his hand was as steady +as a rifleman's. + +Nor had he found it so hard to conquer his fearful habit as even he had +expected; for with every week passed in bitter abstinence, some new +well would break from the rich soil of his intellect, and irrigate with +its sweet waters the parched border land between his physical and +psychical being. And when he had once again betaken himself to the +forsaken pen, there was little reason to fear a relapse or doubt a +final victory. A playful humanity radiated from him, the result of that +powerfullest of all restoratives--_giving_ of what one has to him who +has not. Indeed his reformation had begun with this. St Paul taught a +thief to labour, that he might have to give: Love taught Mr Cupples to +deny himself that he might rescue his friend; and presently he had +found his feet touching the rock. If he had not yet learned to look +"straight up to heaven," his eyes wandered not unfrequently towards +that spiritual horizon upon which things earthly and things heavenly +meet and embrace. + +To such a Cosmo Cupples, then, Thomas told the story of Annie +Anderson's five-pound note. As he spoke, Cupples was tormented as with +the flitting phantom of a half-forgotten dream. All at once, light +flashed upon him. + +"And sae what am I to do?" asked Thomas as he finished his tale.--"I +can pruv naething; but I'm certain i' my ain min', kennin' the man's +nater, that it was that note he tuik oot o' the Bible." + +"I'll put the proof o' that same into yer han's, or I'm sair mista'en," +said Mr Cupples. + +"You, Mr Cupples?" + +"Ay, me, Mr Crann. But maybe ye wadna tak proof frae sic a sinner +against sic a sanct. Sae ye may keep yer sanct i' yer holy boasom." + +"Dinna gang on that gait, Mr Cupples. Gin ye can direc' me to the +purification o' our wee bit temple, I'll hearken heumbly. I only wiss +ye war ane o' us." + +"I'll bide till ye hae gotten rid o' Bruce, ony gait.--I care naething +for yer sma' separatist kirkies.--I wonner ye dinna pray for a clippin' +o' an auld sun that ye micht do withoot the common daylicht. But I do +think it's a great shame--that sic a sneak sud be i' the company o' +honest fowk, as I tak the maist o' ye to be. Sae I'll do my best. Ye'll +hear frae me in a day or twa." + +Cupples had remembered the inscription on the fly-leaf of the big +Bible, which, according to Thomas Crann, Mr Cowie had given to Annie. +He now went to James Dow. + +"Did Annie ever tell ye aboot a Bible that Mr Cowie ga'e her, Jeames?" + +"Ay did she. I min' 't fine." + +"Cud ye get a haud o' 't." + +"Eh! I dinna ken. The crater has laid his ain cleuks upo' 't. It's a +sod pity that Annie's oot o' the hoose, or she micht hae stown't +(stolen it)." + +"Truly, bein' her ain, she micht. But ye're a kin' o' a guairdian till +her--arena ye?" + +"Ow! ay. I hae made mysel' that in a way; but Bruce wad aye be luikit +upon as the proper guairdian." + +"Hae ye ony haud upo' the siller?" + +"I gart him sign a lawyer's paper aboot it." + +"Weel, ye jist gang and demand the Bible, alang wi' the lave o' Annie's +property. Ye ken she's had trouble aboot her kist (chest), and canna +get it frae the swallowin' cratur'. And gin he maks ony demur, jist +drap a hint o' gaein to the lawyer aboot it. The like o' him's as fleyt +at a lawyer as cats at cauld water. Get the Bible we maun. And ye maun +fess't to me direckly." + +Dow was a peaceable man, and did not much relish the commission. +Cupples, thinking he too was a missionar, told him the story. + +"Weel," said Dow, "lat him sit there. Maybe they'll haud him frae doin' +mair mischeef. Whan ye jabble a stank, the stink rises." + +"I thocht ye was ane o' them. Ye maunna lat it oot." + +"Na, na. I a' haud my tongue." + +"_I_ care naething aboot it. But there's Thamas Crann jist eatin' his +ain hert. It's a sin to lat sic a man live in sic distress." + +"'Deed is't. He's a gude man that. And he's been verra kin' to oor +Annie, Mr Cupples,--I'll do as ye say. Whan do ye want it?" + +"This verra nicht." + +So after his day's work, which was hard enough at this season of the +year, was over, James Dow put on his blue Sunday coat, and set off to +the town. He found Robert Bruce chaffering with a country girl over +some butter, for which he wanted to give her less than the +market-value. This roused his indignation, and put him in a much fitter +mood for an altercation. + +"I winna gie ye mair nor fivepence. Hoo are ye the day, Mr Doo? I tell +ye it has a goo (Fren. gout) o' neeps or something waur." + +"Hoo can that be, Mr Bruce, at this sizzon o' the year, whan there's +plenty o' gerss for man an' beast an' a' cratur?" said the girl. + +"It's no for me to say hoo it can be. That's no my business. Noo, Mr +Doo?" + +Bruce, whose very life lay in driving bargains, had a great dislike to +any interruption of the process. Yet he forsook the girl as if he had +said all he had to say, and turned to James Dow. For he wanted to get +rid of him before concluding his bargain with the girl, whose butter he +was determined to have even if he must pay her own price for it. Like +the Reeve in the Canterbury Tales, who "ever rode the hinderest of the +rout," being such a rogue and such a rogue-catcher that he could not +bear anybody behind his back, Bruce, when about the business that his +soul loved, eschewed the presence of any third person. + +"Noo, Mr Doo?" he said. + +"My business'll keep," replied Dow. + +"But ye see we're busy the nicht, Mr Doo." + +"Weel, I dinna want to hurry ye. But I wonner that ye wad buy ill +butter, to please onybody, even a bonnie lass like that." + +"Some fowk likes the taste o' neeps, though I dinna like it mysel'," +answered Bruce. "But the fac' that neeps is no a favourite wi' the +maist o' fowk, brings doon the price i' the market." + +"Neeps is neither here nor there," said the girl; and taking up her +basket, she was going to leave the shop. + +"Bide a bit, my lass," cried Bruce. "The mistress wad like to see ye. +Jist gang benn the hoose to her wi' yer basket, and see what she thinks +o' the butter. I may be wrang, ye ken." + +So saying he opened the inner door, and ushered the young woman into +the kitchen. + +"Noo, Mr Doo?" he said once more. "Is't tobawco, or sneeshin (snuff), +or what is't?" + +"It's Annie Anderson's kist and a' her gear." + +"I'm surprised at ye, Jeames Doo. There's the lassie's room up the +stair, fit for ony princess, whanever she likes to come back till't. +But she was aye a royt (riotous) lassie, an' a reglar rintheroot." + +"Ye lee, Rob Bruce," exclaimed Dow, surprised out of his proprieties. +"Whaever ye say that till, dinna say't to me." + +Bruce was anything but a quarrelsome man with other than his inferiors. +He pocketed the lie very calmly. + +"Dinna lowse yer temper, Mr Doo. It's a sair fau't that." + +"Jist ye deliver up the bairn's effecks, or I'll gang to them that'll +gar ye." + +"Wha micht that be, Mr Doo?" asked Bruce, wishing first to find out how +far Dow was prepared to go. + +"Ye hae no richt whatever to keep that lassie's claes, as gin she aucht +(owed) you onything for rent." + +"Hae _ye_ ony richt to tak them awa'? Hoo ken I what'll come o' them?" + +"Weel, I s' awa' doon to Mr Gibb, and we'll see what can be dune there. +It's weel kent ower a' Glamerton, Mr Bruce, in what mainner you and yer +haill hoose hae borne yersels to that orphan lassie; and I'll gang into +ilka chop, as I gang doon the street, that is, whaur I'm acquant, and +I'll jist tell them whaur I'm gaun, and what for." + +The thing which beyond all others Bruce dreaded was unremunerative +notoriety. + +"Hoots! Jeames Doo, ye dinna ken jokin' frae jeistin'. I never was the +man to set mysel' i' the face o' onything rizzonable. But ye see it wad +be cast up to the haill o' 's that we had driven the puir lassie oot o' +the hoose, and syne flung her things efter her." + +"The tane ye hae dune. The tither ye shanna do, for I'll tak them. And +I'll tell ye what fowk'll say gin ye dinna gie up the things. They'll +say that ye baith drave her awa' and keepit her bit duds. I'll see to +that--_and mair forbye_." + +Bruce understood that he referred to Annie's money. His object in +refusing to give up her box had been to retain as long as possible a +chance of persuading her to return to his house; for should she leave +it finally, her friends might demand the interest in money, which at +present he was bound to pay only in aliment and shelter, little of +either of which she required at his hands. But here was a greater +danger still. + +"Mother," he cried, "pit up Miss Anderson's claes in her box to gang +wi' the carrier the morn's mornin'." + +"I'll tak them wi' me," said Dow resolutely. + +"Ye canna. Ye haena a cairt." + +"Ye get them pitten up, and I'll fess a barrow," said James, leaving +the shop. + +He borrowed a wheelbarrow from Thomas Crann, and found the box ready +for him when he returned. The moment he lifted it, he was certain from +the weight of the poor little property that the Bible was not there. + +"Ye haena pitten in Mr Cooie's Bible." + +"Mother! did ye pit in the Bible?" cried Bruce, for the house-door was +open. + +"'Deed no, father. It's better whaur't is," said Mrs Bruce from the +kitchen, with shrill response. + +"Ye see, Mr Doo, the Bible's lain sae lang there, that it's jist oor +ain. And the lassie canna want it till she has a faimily to hae worship +wi'. And syne she s' be welcome to tak' it." + +"Ye gang up the stair for the buik, or I'll gang mysel'." + +Bruce went and fetched it, with a bad grace enough, and handed over +with it the last tattered remnants of his respectability into the hands +of James Dow. + +Mr Cupples, having made a translation of the inscription, took it to +Thomas Crann. + +"Do ye min' what Bruce read that nicht ye saw him tak' something oot o' +the beuk?" he asked as he entered. + +"Ay, weel that. He began wi' the twenty-third psalm, and gaed on to the +neist." + +"Weel, read that. I faun' 't on a blank leaf o' the buik." + +Thomas read--'_Over the twenty-third psalm of David I have laid a +five-pound note for my dear Annie Anderson, after my death_,'--and +lifting his eyes, stared at Mr Cupples, his face slowly brightening +with satisfaction. Then a cloud came over his brow--for was he not +rejoicing in iniquity? At least he was rejoicing in coming shame. + +"Hoo cud it hae been," he asked after a brief pause, "that Bruce didna +fa' upo' this, as weel's you, Mr Cupples, or didna scart it oot?" + +"'Cause 'twas written in Latin. The body hadna the wit to misdoobt the +contents o' 't. It said naething _till_ him, and he never thoucht it +cud say onything _aboot_ him." + +"It's a fine thing to be a scholar, Mr Cupples." + +"Ay, whiles." + +"They say the Miss Cowies are great scholars." + +"Verra likly.--But there's ae thing mair I wad put ye up till. Can ye +tell the day o' the month that ye gaed hame wi' yer prayin' frien'?" + +"It was the nicht o' a special prayer-meetin' for the state o' +Glamerton. I can fin' oot the date frae the kirk-buiks. What am I to do +wi' 't whan I hae't, sir?" + +"Gang to the bank the body deals wi', and spier whether a note beirin' +the nummer o' thae figures was paid intil 't upo' the Monday followin' +that Sunday, and wha paid it. They'll tell ye that at ance." + +But for various reasons, which it is needless to give in this history, +Thomas was compelled to postpone the execution of his project. And +Robert went on buying and selling and getting gain, all unaware of the +pit he had digged for himself. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXXIV. + + +One Sunday morning Mr Cupples was returning from church with Alec. + +"Ye likit the sermon the day, Mr Cupples." + +"What gars ye think that?" + +"I saw ye takin' notes a' the time." + +"Gleg-eed mole!" said Mr Cupples. "Luik at the notes as ye ca' them." + +"Eh! it's a sang!" exclaimed Alec with delight. + +"What cud gar ye think I likit sic havers? The crater was preachin' +till's ain shaidow. And he pat me into sic an unchristian temper o' +dislike to him and a' the concern, that I ran to my city o' refuge. I +never gang to the kirk wi'oot it--I mean my pocket-buik. And I tried to +gie birth till a sang, the quhilk, like Jove, I conceived i' my heid +last nicht." + +"Lat me luik at it," said Alec, eagerly. + +"Na, ye wadna mak' either rhyme or rizzon o' 't as it stan's. I'll read +it to ye." + +"Come and sit doon, than, on the ither side o' the dyke." + +A dyke in Scotland is an earthen fence--to my prejudiced mind, the +ideal of fences; because, for one thing, it never keeps anybody out. +And not to speak of the wild bees' bykes in them, with their +inexpressible honey, like that of Mount Hymettus--to the recollection +of the man, at least--they are covered with grass, and wild flowers +grow all about them, through which the wind harps and carps over your +head, filling your sense with the odours of a little modest yellow +tufty flower, for which I never heard a name in Scotland: the English +call it Ladies' Bedstraw. + +They got over the dyke into the field and sat down. + +"Ye see it's no lickit eneuch yet," said Mr Cupples, and began. + + "O lassie, ayont the hill! + Come ower the tap o' the hill; + Or roun' the neuk o' the hill; + For I want ye sair the night. + I'm needin' ye sair the nicht, + For I'm tired and sick o' mysel'. + A body's sel' 's the sairest weicht. + O lassie, come ower the hill. + + Gin a body cud be a thocht o' grace, + And no a sel' ava! + I'm sick o' my heid and my han's and my face, + And my thouchts and mysel' and a'. + I'm sick o' the warl' and a'; + The licht gangs by wi' a hiss; + For throu' my een the sunbeams fa', + But my weary hert they miss. + + O lassie, ayont the hill! + Come ower the tap o' the hill, + Or roun' the neuk o' the hill, + For I want ye sair the nicht. + + For gin ance I saw yer bonnie heid, + And the sunlicht o' yer hair, + The ghaist o' mysel' wad fa' doon deid, + And I'd be mysel' nae mair. + I wad be mysel' nae mair, + Filled o' the sole remeid, + Slain by the arrows o' licht frae yer hair, + Killed by yer body and heid. + O lassie, ayont the hill! &c. + + But gin ye lo'ed me, ever so sma' + For the sake o' my bonny dame, + Whan I cam' to life, as she gaed awa', + I could bide my body and name. + I micht bide mysel', the weary same, + Aye settin' up its heid, + Till I turn frae the claes that cover my frame, + As gin they war roun' the deid. + O lassie, ayont the hill! &c. + + But gin ye lo'ed me as I lo'e you, + I wad ring my ain deid knell; + My sel' wad vanish, shot through and through + By the shine o' your sunny sel'. + By the shine o' your sunny sel', + By the licht aneath your broo, + I wad dee to mysel', and ring my bell, + And only live in you. + + O lassie, ayont the hill! + Come ower the tap o' the hill, + Or roun' the neuk o' the hill, + For I want ye sair the night. + I'm needin' ye sair the nicht, + For I'm tired and sick o' mysel; + A body's sel' 's the sairest weicht! + O lassie, come ower the hill." + +"Isna it raither metapheesical, Mr Cupples?" asked Alec. + +"Ay is't. But fowk's metapheesical. True, they dinna aye ken't. I wad +to God I cud get that sel' o' mine safe aneath the yird, for it jist +torments the life oot o' me wi' its ugly face. Hit and me jist stan's +an' girns at ane anither." + +"It'll tak a heap o' Christianity to lay _that_ ghaist, Mr Cupples. +That I ken weel. The lassie wadna be able to do't for ye. It's ower +muckle to expec' o' her or ony mortal woman. For the sowl's a temple +biggit for the Holy Ghost, and no woman can fill't, war she the Virgin +Mary ower again. And till the Holy Ghost comes intil's ain hoose, the +ghaist that ye speak o' winna gang oot." + +A huge form towered above the dyke behind them. + +"Ye had no richt to hearken, Thomas Crann," said Mr Cupples. + +"I beg your pardon," returned Thomas; "I never thoucht o' that. The +soun' was sae bonnie, I jist stud and hearkened. I beg your +pardon.--But that's no the richt thing for the Sawbath day." + +"But ye're haein' a walk yersel', it seems, Thomas." + +"Ay; but I'm gaun ower the hills to my school. An' I maunna bide to +claver wi' ye, for I hae a guid twa hoors' traivel afore me." + +"Come hame wi' us, and hae a mou'fu' o' denner afore ye gang, Thomas," +said Alec. + +"Na, I thank ye. It does the sowl gude to fast a wee ae day in saiven. +I had a piece, though, afore I cam' awa'. What am I braggin' o'! Gude +day to ye." + +"That's an honest man, Alec," said Cupples. + +"He is," returned Alec. "But he never will do as other people do." + +"Perhaps that's the source of his honesty--that he walks by an inward +light," said Cupples thoughtfully. + +The year wore on. Alec grew confident. They returned together to their +old quarters. Alec passed his examinations triumphantly, and continued +his studies with greater vigour than before. Especially he walked the +hospitals with much attention and interest, ever warned by Cupples to +beware lest he should come to regard a man as a physical machine, and +so grow a mere doctoring machine himself. + +Mr Fraser declined seeing him. The old man was in a pitiable condition, +and indeed never lectured again. + +Alec no more frequented his old dismal haunt by the seashore. The cry +of the drowning girl would not have come to him as it would to the more +finely nervous constitution of Mr Cupples; but the cry of a sea-gull, +or the wash of the waves, or even the wind across the tops of the +sand-hills, would have been enough to make him see in every crest which +the wind tore white in the gloamin, the forlorn figure of the girl he +loved vanishing from his eyes. + +The more heartily he worked the more did the evil as well as the +painful portions of his history recede into the background of his +memory, growing more and more like the traces left by a bad, turbid, +and sorrowful dream. + +Is it true that _all_ our experiences will one day revive in entire +clearness of outline and full brilliancy of colour, passing before the +horror-struck soul to the denial of time, and the assertion of +ever-present eternity? If so, then God be with us, for we shall need +him. + +Annie Anderson's great-aunt took to her bed directly after her +husband's funeral. + +Finding there was much to do about the place, Annie felt no delicacy as +to remaining. She worked harder than ever she had worked before, +blistered her hands, and browned her fair face and neck altogether +autumnally. Her aunt and she together shore (reaped) the little field +of oats; got the sheaves home and made a rick of them; dug up the +potatoes, and covered them in a pit with a blanket of earth; looked +after the one cow and calf which gathered the grass along the road and +river sides; fed the pigs and the poultry, and even went with a +neighbour and his cart to the moss, to howk (dig) their winter-store of +peats. But this they found too hard for them, and were forced to give +up. Their neighbours, however, provided their fuel, as they had often +done in part for old John Peterson. + +Before the winter came there was little left to be done; and Annie saw +by her aunt's looks that she wanted to get rid of her. Margaret +Anderson had a chronic, consuming sense of poverty, and therefore +worshipped with her whole soul the monkey Lars of saving and vigilance. +Hence Annie, as soon as Alec was gone, went, with the simplicity +belonging to her childlike nature, to see Mrs Forbes, and returned to +Clippenstrae only to bid them good-bye. + +The bodily repose and mental activity of the winter formed a strong +contrast with her last experiences. But the rainy, foggy, frosty, snowy +months passed away much as they had done before, fostering, amongst +other hidden growths, that of Mrs Forbes' love for her semi-protegee, +whom, like Castor and Pollux, she took half the year to heaven, and +sent the other half to Tartarus. One notable event, however, of +considerable importance in its results to the people of Howglen, took +place this winter amongst the missionars of Glamerton. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXXV. + + +So entire was Thomas Crann's notion of discipline, that it could not be +satisfied with the mere riddance of Robert Bruce. Jealous, therefore, +of encroachment on the part of minister or deacons, and opposed by his +friend James Johnstone, he communicated his design to no one; for he +knew that the higher powers, anxious to avoid scandal wherever +possible, would, instead of putting the hypocrite to shame as he +deserved, merely send him a civil letter, requesting him to withdraw +from their communion. After watching for a fit opportunity, he resolved +at length to make his accusation against Robert Bruce in person at an +approaching church-meeting, at which, in consequence of the expected +discussion of the question of the proper frequency of the +administration of the sacrament, a full attendance of members might be +expected. + +They met in the chapel, which was partially lighted for the occasion. +The night was brilliant with frosty stars, as Thomas walked to the +rendezvous. He felt the vigour of the season in his yet unsubdued +limbs, but as he watched his breath curling in the frosty air, and then +vanishing in the night, he thought how the world itself would pass away +before the face of Him that sat on the great white throne; and how the +missionars of Glamerton would have nothing to say for themselves on +that day, if they did not purify themselves on this. From the faint +light of the stars he passed into the dull illumination of the tallow +candles, and took his place in silence behind their snuffer, who, +though half-witted, had yet shown intelligence and piety enough for +admission into the community. The church slowly gathered, and at length +Mr Turnbull appeared, supported by his deacons. + +After the usual preliminary devotions, in which Robert Bruce "engaged," +the business of the meeting was solemnly introduced. The only part +which Thomas Crann took in it was to expostulate with the +candle-snuffer, who being violently opposed to the wishes of the +minister, and not daring to speak, kept grumbling in no inaudible voice +at everything that came from that side of the house. + +"Hoot, Richard! it's Scriptur', ye ken," said Thomas, soothingly. + +"Scriptur' or no Scriptur', we're nae for't," growled Richard aloud, +and rising, gave vent to his excited feelings by snuffing out and +relighting every candle in its turn. + +At length the further discussion of the question was postponed to the +next meeting, and the minister was preparing to give out a hymn, when +Thomas Crann's voice arose in the dusky space. Mr Turnbull stopped to +listen, and there fell an expectant silence; for the stone-mason was +both reverenced and feared. It was too dark to see more than the dim +bulk of his figure, but he spoke with slow emphasis, and every word was +heard. + +"Brethren and office-beirers o' the church, it's upo' discipline that I +want to speak. Discipline is ane o' the main objecs for which a church +is gathered by the speerit o' God. And we maun work discipleen amo' +oorsels, or else the rod o' the Almichty'll come doon upon a' oor +backs. I winna haud ye frae particulars ony langer.--Upon a certain +Sawbath nicht i' the last year, I gaed into Robert Bruce's hoose, to +hae worship wi' 'm.--I'm gaein straucht and fair to the pint at ance. +Whan he opened the buik, I saw him slip something oot atween the leaves +o' 't, and crunkle 't up in 's han', luikin his greediest. Syne he read +the twenty-third and fourt psalms. I cudna help watchin' him, and whan +we gaed down upo' oor k-nees, I luikit roon efter him, and saw him pit +something intil's breek-pooch. Weel, it stack to me. Efterhin +(afterwards) I fand oot frae the lassie Annie Anderson, that the buik +was hers, that auld Mr Cooie had gien't till her upo' 's deith-bed, and +had tell't her forbye that he had pitten a five poun' note atween the +leaves o' 't, to be her ain in remembrance o' him, like. What say ye to +that, Robert Bruce?" + +"It's a' a lee," cried Robert, out of the dark back-ground under the +gallery, where he always placed himself at such meetings, "gotten up +atween yersel' and that ungratefu' cousin o' mine, Jeames Anderson's +lass, wha I hae keepit like ane o' my ain." + +Bruce had been sitting trembling; but when Thomas put the question, +believing that he had heard all that Thomas had to say, and that there +was no proof against him, he resolved at once to meet the accusation +with a stout denial. Whereupon Thomas resumed: + +"Ye hear him deny't. Weel, I hae seen the said Bible mysel'; and +there's this inscription upo' ane o' the blank leaves o' 't: 'Over the +twenty-third psalm o' David,'--I tellt ye that he read that psalm that +night--'Over the twenty-third psalm o' David, I hae laid a five poun' +note for my dear Annie Anderson, efter my deith!' Syne followed the +nummer o' the note, which I can shaw them that wants to see. Noo I hae +the banker's word for statin' that upo' the very Monday mornin' efter +that Sunday, Bruce paid into the bank a five poun' note o' that verra +indentical nummer. What say ye to that, Robert Bruce?" + +A silence followed. Thomas himself broke it with the words: + +"That money he oucht to hae supposed was Mr Cooie's, and returned it +till's dochters. But he pays't intil's ain accoont. Ca' ye na that a +breach o' the eicht commandment, Robert Bruce?" + +But now Robert Bruce rose. And he spoke with solemnity and pathos. + +"It's a sair thing, sirs, that amo' Christians, wha ca' themsel's a +chosen priesthood and a peculiar people, a jined member o' the same +church should meet wi' sic ill-guideship as I hae met wi' at the han's +o' Mr Crann. To say naething o' his no bein' ashamed to confess bein' +sic a heepocreet i' the sicht o' God as to luik aboot him upon his +knees, lyin' in wait for a man to do him hurt whan he pretendit to be +worshippin' wi' him afore the Lord his Maker, to say naething o' that +which I wadna hae expeckit o' him, he gangs aboot for auchteen months +contrivin' to bring that man to disgrace because he daurna mak' sic a +strong profession as he mak's himsel'. But the warst o' 't a' is, that +he beguiles a young thochtless bairn, wha has been the cause o' muckle +discomfort in oor hoose, to jine him i' the plot. It's true eneuch that +I took the bank-note frae the Bible, whilk was a verra unshuitable +place to put the unrichteous mammon intil, and min's me upo' the +money-changers i' the temple; and it's true that I paid it into the +bank the neist day--" + +"What garred ye deny't, than?" interrupted Thomas. + +"Bide a wee, Mr Crann, and caw canny. Ye hae been hearkened till wi'oot +interruption, and I maun hae fair play here whatever I get frae +yersel'. I didna deny the fac. Wha could deny a fac? But I denied a' +the haill affair, i' the licht o' wickedness and thievin' that Mr Crann +was castin' upo' 't. _I_ saw that inscription and read it wi' my ain +een the verra day the lassie brocht the beuk, and kenned as weel's Mr +Crann that the siller wasna to be taen hame again. But I said to +mysel': "It'll turn the lassie's heid, and she'll jist fling't awa' in +murlocks (crumbs) upo' sweeties, and plunky, and sic like,' for she was +aye greedy, 'sae I'll jist pit it into the bank wi' my ain, and accoont +for't efterhin wi' the lave o' her bit siller whan I gie that up intil +her ain han's. Noo, Mr Crann!" + +He sat down, and Mr Turnbull rose. + +"My Christian brethren," he said, "it seems to me that this is not the +proper place to discuss such a question. It seems to me likewise +ill-judged of Mr Crann to make such an accusation in public against Mr +Bruce, who, I must say, has met it with a self-restraint and a +self-possession most creditable to him, and has answered it in a very +satisfactory manner. The hundredth psalm." + +"Hooly and fairly, sir!" exclaimed Thomas, forgetting his manners in +his eagerness. "I haena dune yet. And whaur wad be the place to discuss +sic a queston but afore a' meetin o' the church? Ca' ye that the +public, sir? Wasna the church institute for the sake o' discipleen? Sic +things are no to be ironed oot in a hole an' a corner, atween you and +the deycons, sir. They belang to the haill body. We're a' wranged +thegither, and the Holy Ghost, whase temple we sud be, is wranged +forby. You at least micht ken, sir, that he's withdrawn his presence +frae oor mids', and we are but a candle under a bushel, and not a city +set upon a hill. We beir no witness. And the cause o' his displeesur' +is the accursed thing which the Ahchan in oor camp has hidden i' the +Coonty Bank, forby mony ither causes that come hame to us a'. And the +warl' jist scoffs at oor profession o' religion, whan it sees sic a man +as that in oor mids'." + +"All this is nothing to the point, Mr Crann," said Mr Turnbull in +displeasure. + +"It's to the verra hert o' the pint," returned Thomas, equally +displeased. "Gin Robert Bruce saw the inscription the day the lassie +broucht hame the buik, will he tell me hoo it was that he cam' to lea' +the note i' the buik till that Sawbath nicht?" + +"I luikit for 't, but I cudna fin' 't, and thocht she had ta'en 't oot +upo' the road hame." + +"Cudna ye fin' the twenty-third psalm?--But jist ae thing mair, Mr +Turnbull, and syne I'll haud my tongue," resumed Thomas.--"Jeames +Johnstone, will ye rin ower to my hoose, and fess the Bible? It's lyin' +upo' the drawers. Ye canna mistak' it.--Jist hae patience till he comes +back, sir, and we'll see hoo Mr Bruce'll read the inscription. I wad +hae made nothing o' 't, gin it hadna been for a frien' o' mine. But Mr +Bruce is a scholar, an' 'll read the Laitin till 's." + +By this time James Johnstone was across the street. + +"There's some foul play in this," cried Bruce, out of the darkness. "My +enemy maun sen' for an ootlandish speech and a heathen tongue to +insnare ane o' the brethren!" + +Profound silence followed. All sat expectant. The snuff of the candles +grew longer and longer. Even the energetic Richard, who had opposed the +Scripture single-handed, forgot his duty in the absorbing interest of +the moment. Every ear was listening for the footsteps of the returning +weaver, bringing the Bible of the parish-clergyman into the +half-unhallowed precincts of a conventicle. At a slight motion of one +of the doors, an audible start of expectation broke like an electric +spark from the still people. But nothing came of it. They had to wait +full five minutes yet before the messenger returned, bearing the large +volume in both hands in front of him. + +"Tak' the buik up to Mr Turnbull, Jeames, and snuff his can'les," said +Thomas. + +James took the snuffers, but Richard started up, snatched them from +him, and performed the operation himself with his usual success. + +The book being laid on the desk before Mr Turnbull, Thomas called out +into the back region of the chapel, + +"Noo, Robert Bruce, come foret, and fin' oot this inscription that ye +ken a' aboot sae weel, and read it to the church, that they may see +what a scholar they hae amo' them." + +But there was neither voice nor hearing. + +After a pause, Mr Turnbull spoke. + +"Mr Bruce, we're waiting for you," he said. "Do not be afraid. You +shall have justice." + +A dead silence followed the appeal. Presently some of those furthest +back--they were women in hooded cloaks and _mutches_--spoke in scarce +audible voices. + +"He's no here, sir. We canna see him," they said. + +The minister could not distinguish their words. + +"No here!" cried Thomas, who, deaf as he was, had heard them. "He was +here a minute ago! His conscience has spoken at last. He's fa'en doon, +like Ananias, i' the seat." + +Richard snatched a candle out of the candelabrum, and went to look. +Others followed similarly provided. They searched the pew where he had +been sitting, and the neighbouring pews, and the whole chapel, but he +was nowhere to be found. + +"That wad hae been him, whan I heard the door bang," they said to each +other at length. + +And so it was. For perceiving how he had committed himself, he had +slipped down in the pew, crawled on all fours to the door, and got out +of the place unsuspected. + +A formal sentence of expulsion was passed upon him by a show of hands, +and the word _Expelled_ was written against his name in the list of +church-members. + +"Thomas Crann, will you engage in prayer," said Mr Turnbull. + +"Na, nae the nicht," answered Thomas. "I'm like ane under the auld law +that had been buryin' the deid. I hae been doin' necessar' but foul +wark, and I'm defiled in consequence. I'm no in a richt speerit to pray +in public. I maun awa' hame to my prayers. I houp I mayna do something +mysel' afore lang that'll mak' it necessar' for ye to dismiss me neist. +But gin that time sud come, spare not, I beseech ye." + +So, after a short prayer from Mr Turnbull, the meeting separated in a +state of considerable excitement. Thomas half expected to hear of an +action for libel, but Robert knew better than venture upon that. +Besides, no damages could be got out of Thomas. + +When Bruce was once outside the chapel, he assumed the erect posture to +which his claim was entirely one of species, and went home by +circuitous ways. He found the shop still open, attended by his wife. + +"Preserve's, Robert! what's come ower ye?" she exclaimed. + +"I had sic a sair heid (headache), I was forced to come oot afore a' +was dune," he answered. "I dinna think I'll gang ony mair, for they +dinna conduc' things a'thegither to my likin'. I winna fash mair wi' +them." + +His wife looked at him anxiously, perhaps with some vague suspicion of +the truth; but she said nothing, and I do not believe the matter was +ever alluded to between them. The only indications remaining the next +day of what he had gone through that evening, consisted in an increase +of suavity towards his grown customers, and of acerbity towards the +children who were unfortunate enough to enter his shop. + +Of the two, however, perhaps Thomas Crann was the more unhappy as he +went home that night. He felt nothing of the elation which commonly +springs from success in a cherished project. He had been the promoter +and agent in the downfall of another man, and although the fall was a +just one, and it was better too for the man to be down than standing on +a false pedestal, Thomas could not help feeling the reaction of a +fellow-creature's humiliation. Now that the thing was done, and the end +gained, the eternal brotherhood asserted itself, and Thomas pitied +Bruce and mourned over him. He must be to him henceforth as a heathen +man and a publican, and he was sorry for him. "Ye see," he said to +himself, "it's no like a slip or a sin; but an evil disease cleaveth +fast unto him, and there's sma' chance o' him ever repentin' noo. +A'thing has been dune for him that can be dune." + +Yet Thomas worshipped a God, who, if the theories Thomas held were +correct, could at once, by the free gift of a Holy Spirit, generate +repentance in Bruce, and so make him fit for salvation; but who, Thomas +believed, would not do so--at all events, _might_ not do so--keeping +him alive for ever in howling unbelief instead. + +Scarcely any of the "members" henceforth saluted Bruce in the street. +None of them traded with him, except two or three who owed him a few +shillings, and could not pay him. And the modifying effect upon the +week's returns was very perceptible. This was the only form in which a +recognizable vengeance could have reached him. To escape from it, he +had serious thoughts of leaving the place, and setting up in some +remote village. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXXVI. + + +Notwithstanding Alec's diligence and the genial companionship of Mr +Cupples--whether the death of Kate, or his own illness, or the reaction +of shame after his sojourn in the tents of wickedness, had opened dark +visions of the world of reality lying in awful _unknownness_ around the +life he seemed to know, I cannot tell,--cold isolations would suddenly +seize upon him, wherein he would ask himself--that oracular cave in +which one hears a thousand questions before one reply--"What is the use +of it all--this study and labour?" And he interpreted the silence to +mean: "Life is worthless. There is no glow in it--only a glimmer and +shine at best."--Will my readers set this condition down as one of +disease? If they do, I ask, "Why should a man be satisfied with +anything such as was now within the grasp of Alec Forbes?" And if they +reply that a higher ambition would have set him at peace if not at +rest, I only say that they would be nearer health if they had his +disease. Pain is not malady; it is the revelation of malady--the +meeting and recoil between the unknown death and the unknown life; that +jar of the system whereby the fact becomes known to the man that he is +ill. There was disease in Alec, but the disease did not lie in his +dissatisfaction. It lay in that poverty of life with which those are +satisfied who call such discontent disease. Such disease is the first +flicker of the aurora of a rising health. + +This state of feeling, however, was only occasional; and a reviving +interest in anything belonging to his studies, or a merry talk with Mr +Cupples, would dispel it for a time, just as a breath of fine air will +give the sense of perfect health to one dying of consumption. + +But what made these questionings develope into the thorns of a more +definite self-condemnation--the advanced guard sometimes of the roses +of peace--was simply this: + +He had written to his mother for money to lay out upon superior +instruments, and new chemical apparatus; and his mother had replied +sadly that she was unable to send it. She hinted that his education had +cost more than she had expected. She told him that she was in debt to +Robert Bruce, and had of late been compelled to delay the payment of +its interest. She informed him also that, even under James Dow's +conscientious management, there seemed little ground for hoping that +the farm would ever make a return correspondent to the large outlay his +father had made upon it. + +This letter stung Alec to the heart. That his mother should be in the +power of such a man as Bruce, was bad enough; but that she should have +been exposed for his sake to the indignity of requesting his +forbearance, seemed unendurable. To despise the man was no +satisfaction, the right and the wrong being where they were.--And what +proportion of the expenses of last session had gone to his +college-accounts? + +He wrote a humble letter to his mother--and worked still harder. For +although he could not make a shilling at present, the future had hope +in it. + +Meantime Mr Cupples, in order that he might bear such outward signs of +inward grace as would appeal to the perceptions of the Senatus, got a +new hat, and changed his shabby tail-coat for a black frock. His shirt +ceased to be a hypothesis to account for his collar, and became a real +hypostasis, evident and clean. These signs of improvement led to +inquiries on the part of the Senatus, and the result was that, before +three months of the session were over, he was formally installed as +librarian. His first impulse on receiving the good news was to rush +down to Luckie Cumstie's and have a double-tumbler. But conscience was +too strong for Satan, and sent him home to his pipe--which, it must be +confessed, he smoked twice as much as before his reformation. + +From the moment of his appointment, he seemed to regard the library as +his own private property, or, rather, as his own family. He was +grandfather to the books: at least a grandfather shows that combination +of parent and servant which comes nearest to the relation he henceforth +manifested towards them. Most of them he gave out graciously; some of +them grudgingly; a few of them with much reluctance; but all of them +with injunctions to care, and special warnings against forcing the +backs, crumpling or folding the leaves, and making thumb-marks. + +"Noo," he would say to some country bejan, "tak' the buik i' yer han's +no as gin 'twar a neip (turnip), but as gin 'twar the sowl o' a +new-born bairn. Min' ye it has to sair (serve) mony a generation efter +your banes lie bare i' the moul', an' ye maun hae respec' to them that +come efter ye, and no ill-guide their fare. I beg ye winna guddle't +(mangle it)." + +The bejans used to laugh at him in consequence. But long before they +were magistrands, the best of them had a profound respect for the +librarian. Not a few of them repaired to him with all their +difficulties; and such a general favourite was he, that any story of +his humour or oddity was sure to be received with a roar of loving +laughter. Indeed I doubt whether, within the course of a curriculum, Mr +Cupples had not become the real centre of intellectual and moral life +in that college. + +One evening, as he and Alec were sitting together speculating on the +speediest mode of turning Alec's acquirements to money-account, their +landlady entered. + +"Here's my cousin," she said, "Captain McTavish o' the _Sea-horse_, Mr +Forbes, wha says that afore lang he'll be wantin' a young doctor to +gang and haud the scurvy aff o' his men at the whaul-fishin'. Sae of +coorse I thoucht o' my ain first, and ran up the stair to you. It'll be +fifty poun' i' yer pooch, and a plenty o' rouch ploys that the like o' +you young fallows likes, though I canna say I wad like sic things +mysel'. Only I'm an auld wife, ye see, and that maks the differ." + +"Nae that auld, Mistress Leslie," said Cupples, "gin ye wadna lee." + +"Tell Captain McTavish that I'll gang," said Alec, who had hesitated no +longer than the time Mr Cupples took to say the word of kind flattery +to their landlady. + +"He'll want testimonials, ye ken." + +"Wadna _ye_ gie me ane, Mrs Leslie?" + +"'Deed wad I, gin 'twar o' ony accoont. Ye see, Mr Alec, the day's no +yesterday; and this session's no the last." + +"Haud yer tongue, and dinna rub a sair place," cried Mr Cupples. + +"I beg yer pardon," returned Mrs Leslie, submissively. + +Alec followed her down the stair. + +He soon returned, his eyes flashing with delight. Adventure! And fifty +pounds to take to his mother! + +"All right, Mr Cupples. The Captain has promised to take me if my +testimonials are satisfactory. I think they will give me good ones now. +If it weren't for you, I should have been lying in the gutter instead +of walking the quarter-deck." + +"Weel, weel, bantam. There's twa sides to maist obligations.--I'm +leebrarian." + +The reader may remember that in his boyhood Alec was fond of the sea, +had rigged a flagstaff, and had built the _Bonnie Annie_. He was nearly +beside himself with delight, which continued unjarred until he heard +from his mother. She had too much good sense to make any opposition, +but she could not prevent her anticipations of loss and loneliness from +appearing. His mother's trouble quelled the exuberance of Alec's +spirits without altering his resolve. He would return to her in the +fall of the year, bringing with him what would ease her mind of half +its load. + +There was no check at the examinations this session. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXXVII. + + +Mrs Forbes was greatly perplexed about Annie. She could not bear the +thought of turning her out; and besides she did not see where she was +to go, for she could not be in the house with young Bruce. On the other +hand, she had still the same dangerous sense of worldly duty as to the +prevention of a so-called unsuitable match, the chance of which was +more threatening than ever. For Annie had grown very lovely, and having +taken captive the affections of the mother, must put the heart of the +son in dire jeopardy. But Alec arrived two days before he was expected, +and delivered his mother from her perplexity by declaring that if Annie +were sent away he too would leave the house. He had seen through the +maternal precautions the last time he was at home, and talking with +Cupples about it, who secretly wished for no better luck than that Alec +should fall in love with Annie, had his feelings strengthened as to the +unkindness, if not injustice, of throwing her periodically into such a +dungeon as the society of the Bruces. So Annie remained where she was, +much, I must confess, to her inward content. + +The youth and the maiden met every day--the youth unembarrassed, and +the maiden reserved and shy, even to the satisfaction of the mother. +But if Alec could have seen the loving thoughts which, like threads of +heavenly gold (for all the gold of heaven is invisible), wrought +themselves into the garments she made for him, I do not think _he_ +could have helped falling in love with her, although most men, I fear, +would only have fallen the more in love with themselves, and cared the +less for her. But he did not see them, or hear the divine measures to +which her needle flew, as she laboured to arm him against the cold of +those regions + + Where all life dies, death lives, and nature breeds, + Perverse, all monstrous, all prodigious things. + +Alec's college-life had interposed a gulf between him and his previous +history. But his approaching departure into places unknown and a life +untried, operated upon his spiritual condition like the approach of +death; and he must strengthen again all the old bonds which had been +stretched thin by time and absence; he must make righteous atonement +for the wrong of neglect; in short, he must set his inward house in +order, ere he went forth to the abodes of ice. Death is not a breaker +but a renewer of ties. And if in view of death we gird up the loins of +our minds, and unite our hearts into a whole of love, and tenderness, +and atonement, and forgiveness, then Death himself cannot be that thing +of forlornness and loss. + +He took a day to go and see Curly, and spent a pleasant afternoon with +him, recalling the old times, and the old stories, and the old +companions; for the youth with the downy chin has a past as ancient as +that of the man with the gray beard. And Curly told him the story of +his encounter with young Bruce on the bank of the Wan Water. And over +and over again Annie's name came up, but Curly never hinted at her +secret. + +The next evening he went to see Thomas Crann. Thomas received him with +a cordiality amounting even to gruff tenderness. + +"I'm richt glaid to see ye," he said; "and I tak' it verra kin' o' ye, +wi' a' yer gran' learnin', to come and see an ignorant man like me. But +Alec, my man, there's some things 'at I ken better nor ye ken them yet. +Him that made the whauls is better worth seekin' nor the whauls +themsel's. God's works may swallow the man that follows them, but God +himsel' 's the hidin'-place frae the wind, and the covert frae the +tempest. Set na up nae fause God--that's the thing 'at ye lo'e best, ye +ken--for like Dawgon, it'll fa', and maybe brain ye i' the fa'. Come +doon upo' yer knees wi' me, and I'll pray for ye. But ye maun pray for +yersel', or my prayers winna be o' muckle avail: ye ken that." + +Yielding to the spiritual power of Thomas, whose gray-blue eyes were +flashing with fervour, Alec kneeled down as he was desired, and Thomas +said: + +"O thou who madest the whales to play i' the great watters, and gavest +unto men sic a need o' licht that they maun hunt the leviathan to haud +their lamps burnin' at nicht whan thou hast sent thy sun awa' to ither +lands, be thou roon' aboot this youth, wha surely is nae muckle waur +than him 'at the Saviour lo'ed; and when thou seest his ship gang +sailin' into the far north whaur thou keepest thy stores o' frost and +snaw ready to remin' men o' thy goodness by takin' the heat frae them +for a sizzon--when thou seest his ship gaein far north, pit doon thy +finger, O Lord, and straik a track afore't, throu' amo' the hills o' +ice, that it may gang throu' in saf-ety, even as thy chosen people gaed +throu' the Reid Sea, and the river o' Jordan. For, Lord, we want him +hame again in thy good time. For he is the only son of his mother, and +she is a widow. But aboon a', O Lord, elec' him to thy grace and lat +him ken the glory o' God, even the licht o' thy coontenance. For me, +I'm a' thine, to live or dee, and I care not which. For I hae gotten +the gueed o' this warl'; and gin I binna ready for the neist, it's +because o' my sins, and no o' my savours. For I wad glaidle depairt and +be with the Lord. But this young man has never seen thy face; and, O +Lord, I'm jist feared that my coontenance micht fa' even in thy +kingdom, gin I kent that Alec Forbes was doon i' the ill place. Spare +him, O Lord, and gie him time for repentance gin he has a chance; but +gin he has nane, tak' him at ance, that his doom may be the lichter." + +Alec rose with a very serious face, and went home to his mother in a +mood more concordant with her feelings than the light-heartedness with +which he generally tried to laugh away her apprehensions. + +He even called on Robert Bruce, at his mother's request. It went +terribly against the grain with him though. He expected to find him +rude as of old, but he was, on the contrary, as pleasant as a man could +be whose only notion of politeness lay in _licking_. + +His civility came from two sources--the one hope, the other fear. Alec +was going away and might never return. That was the hope. For although +Bruce had spread the report of Annie's engagement to Curly, he believed +that Alec was the real obstacle to his plans. At the same time he was +afraid of him, believing in his cowardly mind that Alec would not stop +short of personal reprisals if he should offend him; and now he was a +great six-foot fellow, of whose prowess at college confused and +exaggerated stories were floating about the town.--Bruce was a man who +could hatch and cherish plans, keeping one in reserve behind the other, +and beholding their result from afar. + +"Ay! ay! Mr Forbes--sae ye're gaun awa' amo' the train-ile, are ye? Hae +ye ony share i' the tak' no?" + +"I don't think the doctor has any share," answered Alec. + +"But I warran' ye'll put to yer han', and help at the catchin'." + +"Very likely." + +"Weel, gin ye come in for a barrel or twa, ye may coont upo' me to tak +it aff yer han', at the ordinar' price--to the _wholesale_ merchan's, +ye ken--wi' maybe a sma' discoont for orderin' 't afore the whaul was +ta'en." + +The day drew near. He had bidden all his friends farewell. He must go +just as the spring was coming in with the old well-beloved green borne +before her on the white banner of the snowdrop, and following in miles +of jubilation: he must not wait for her triumph, but speed away before +her towards the dreary north, which only a few of her hard-riding +pursuivants would ever reach. For green hills he must have opal-hued +bergs--for green fields the outspread slaty waters, rolling in the +delight of their few weeks of glorious freedom, and mocking the +unwieldy ice-giants that rush in wind-driven troops across their +plains, or welter captive in the weary swell, and melt away beneath the +low summer sun. + +His mother would have gone to see him on board, but he prevailed upon +her to say good-bye to him at home. She kept her tears till after he +was gone. Annie bade him farewell with a pale face, and a smile that +was all sweetness and no gladness. She did not weep even afterwards. A +gentle cold hand pressed her heart down, so that neither blood reached +her face nor water her eyes. She went about everything just as before, +because it had to be done; but it seemed foolish to do anything. The +spring might as well stay away for any good that it promised either of +them. + +As Mr Cupples was taking his farewell on board, + +"Ye'll gang and see my mother?" said Alec. + +"Ay, ay, bantam; I'll do that.--Noo tak care o' yersel; and dinna tak +leeberties wi' behemoth. Put a ring in's nose gin ye like, only haud +oot ower frae's tail. He's no mowse (not to be meddled with)." + +So away went Alec northwards, over the blue-gray waters, surgeon of the +strong barque _Sea-horse_. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXXVIII. + + +Two days after Alec's departure, Mr Bruce called at Howglen to see +Annie. + +"Hoo are ye, Mistress Forbes? Hoo are ye, Miss Anderson? I was jist +comin' ower the watter for a walk, and I thocht I micht as weel fess +the bit siller wi' me that I'm awin ye." + +Annie stared. She did not know what he meant. He explained. + +"It's weel on till a towmon (twelvemonth) that ye hae had neither bite +nor sup aneath my heumble riggin-tree (rooftree), and as that was the +upmak for the interest, I maun pay ye the tane seein' ye winna accep' +o' the tither. I hae jist brocht ye ten poun' to pit i' yer ain pooch +i' the meantime." + +Annie could hardly believe her ears. Could she be the rightful owner of +such untold wealth? Without giving her time to say anything, however, +Bruce went on, still holding in his hand the dirty bunch of one-pound +notes. + +"But I'm thinkin' the best way o' disposin' o' 't wad be to lat me put +it to the lave o' the prencipal. Sae I'll jist tak it to the bank as I +gang back. I canna gie ye onything for 't, 'cause that wad be brakin' +the law against compoon interest, but I can mak' it up some ither gait, +ye ken." + +But Annie had been too much pleased at the prospect of possession to +let the money go so easily. + +"I hae plenty o' ways o' spen'in' 't," she said, "withoot wastry. Sae +I'll jist tak' it mysel', and thank ye, Mr Bruce." + +She rose and took the notes from Bruce's unwilling hand. He was on the +point of replacing them in his trowsers-pocket and refusing to give +them up, when her promptitude rescued them. Discomfiture was manifest +in his reluctant eyes, and the little tug of retraction with which he +loosed his hold upon the notes. He went home mortified, and +poverty-stricken, but yet having gained a step towards a further end. + +Annie begged Mrs Forbes to take the money. + +"I have no use for it, ma'am. An old gown of yours makes as good a +frock for me as I can ever want to have." + +But Mrs Forbes would not even take charge of the money--partly from the +pride of beneficence, partly from the fear of involving it in her own +straits. So that Annie, having provided herself with a few necessaries, +felt free to spend the rest as she would. How she longed for Tibbie +Dyster! But not having her, she went to Thomas Crann, and offered the +money to him. + +"'Deed no, lassie! I winna lay a finger upo' 't. Lay't by till ye want +it yersel'." + +"Dinna ye ken somebody that wants't mair nor me, Thomas?" + +Now Thomas had just been reading a few words spoken, according to +Matthew, the tax-gatherer, by the King of Men, declaring the perfection +of God to consist in his giving good things to all alike, whether they +love him or not. And when Annie asked the question, he remembered the +passage and Peter Peterson together. But he could not trust her to +follow her own instincts, and therefore went with her to see the poor +fellow, who was in a consumption, and would never drink any more. When +he saw his worn face, and the bones with hands at the ends of them, his +heart smote him that he had ever been harsh to him; and although he had +gone with the intention of rousing him to a sense of his danger beyond +the grave, he found that for very pity he could not open the prophetic +mouth. From self-accusation he took shelter behind Annie, saying to +himself: "Babes can best declare what's best revealed to them;" and +left Peter to her ministrations. + +A little money went far to make his last days comfortable; and ere she +had been visiting him for more than a month, he loved her so that he +was able to believe that God might love him, though he knew perfectly +(wherein perhaps his drunkenness had taught him more than the prayers +of many a pharisee) that he could not deserve it. + +This was the beginning of a new relation between Annie and the poor of +Glamerton. And the soul of the maiden grew and blossomed into divine +tenderness, for it was still more blessed to give than to receive. But +she was only allowed to taste of this blessedness, for she had soon to +learn that even giving itself must be given away cheerfully. + +After three months Bruce called again with the quarter's interest. +Before the next period arrived he had an interview with James Dow, to +whom he represented that, as he was now paying the interest down in +cash, he ought not to be exposed to the inconvenience of being called +upon at any moment to restore the principal, but should have the money +secured to him for ten years. After consultation, James Dow consented +to a three years' loan, beyond which he would not yield. Papers to this +effect were signed, and one quarter's interest more was placed in +Annie's willing hand. + +In the middle of summer Mr Cupples made his appearance, and was warmly +welcomed. He had at length completed the catalogue of the library, had +got the books arranged to his mind, and was brimful of enjoyment. He +ran about the fields like a child; gathered bunches of white clover; +made a great kite, and bought an unmeasureable length of string, with +which he flew it the first day the wind was worthy of the honour; got +out Alec's boat, and upset himself in the Glamour; was run away with by +one of the plough-horses in the attempt to ride him to the water; was +laughed at and loved by everybody about Howglen. At length, that is, in +about ten days, he began to settle down into sobriety of demeanour. The +first thing that sobered him was a hint of yellow upon a field of oats. +He began at once to go and see the people of Glamerton, and called upon +Thomas Crann first. + +He found him in one of his gloomy moods, which however were much less +frequent than they had been. + +"Hoo are ye, auld frien'?" said Cupples. + +"Auld as ye say, sir, and nae muckle farrer on nor whan I begud. I +whiles think I hae profited less than onybody I ken. But eh, sir, I wad +be sorry, gin I was you, to dee afore I had gotten a glimp o' the face +o' God." + +"Hoo ken ye that I haena gotten a glimp o' that same?" + +"Ye wad luik mair solemn like," answered Thomas. + +"Maybe I wad," responded Cupples, seriously. + +"Man, strive to get it. Gie Him no rist, day nor nicht, till ye get it. +Knock, knock, knock, till it be opened till ye." + +"Weel, Thomas, ye dinna seem sae happy yersel', efter a'. Dinna ye +think ye may be like ane that's tryin' to see the face o' whilk ye +speyk throu a crack i' the door, in place o' haein patience till it's +opened?" + +But the suggestion was quite lost upon Thomas, who, after a gloomy +pause, went on. + +"Sin's sic an awfu' thing," he began; when the door opened, and in +walked James Dow. + +His entrance did not interrupt Thomas, however. + +"Sin's sic an awfu' thing! And I hae sinned sae aften and sae lang, +that maybe He'll be forced efter a' to sen' me to the bottomless pit." + +"Hoot, hoot, Thamas! dinna speyk sic awfu' things," said Dow. "They're +dreadfu' to hearken till. I s' warran' He's as kin'-hertit as yersel." + +James had no reputation for piety, though much for truthfulness and +honesty. Nor had he any idea how much lay in the words he had hastily +uttered. A light-gleam grew and faded on Thomas's face. + +"I said, he micht be _forced_ to sen' me efter a'." + +"What, Thomas!" cried Cupples. "He _cudna_ save ye! Wi' the Son and the +Speerit to help him? And a willin' hert in you forbye? Fegs! ye hae a +greater opinion o' Sawtan nor I gied ye the discredit o'." + +"Na, na; it's nae Sawtan. It's mysel'. I wadna lay mair wyte (blame) +upo' Sawtan's shouthers nor's his ain. He has eneuch already, puir +fallow!" + +"Ye'll be o' auld Robbie Burns's opinion, that he 'aiblins micht still +hae a stake.'" + +"Na, na; he has nane. Burns was nae prophet." + +"But jist suppose, Thomas--gin the de'il war to repent." + +"Man!" exclaimed the stonemason, rising to his full height with slow +labour after the day's toil, "it wad be cruel to gar _him_ repent. It +wad be ower sair upon him. Better kill him. The bitterness o' sic +repentance wad be ower terrible. It wad be mair nor he cud bide. It wad +brak his hert a'thegither.--Na, na, he has nae chance." + +The last sentence was spoken quickly and with attempted carelessness as +he resumed his seat. + +"Hoo ken ye that?" asked Cupples. + +"There's no sic word i' the Scriptur'." + +"Do ye think He maun tell _us_ a' thing?" + +"We hae nae richt to think onything that He doesna tell's." + +"I'm nae sae sure o' that, Thomas. Maybe, whiles, he doesna tell's a +thing jist to gar's think aboot it, and be ready for the time whan he +will tell's." + +Thomas was silent for a few moments. Then with a smile--rather a grim +one--he said, + +"Here's a curious thing, no.--There's neyther o' you convertit, and yet +yer words strenthen my hert as gin they cam frae the airt (region) +aboon." + +But his countenance changed, and he added hastily, + +"It's a mark o' indwellin' sin. To the law and to the testimony--Gang +awa' and lat me to my prayers." + +They obeyed; for either they felt that nothing but his prayers would +do, or they were awed, and dared not remain. + +Mr Cupples could wait. Thomas could not. + +The Forlorn Hope of men must storm the walls of Heaven. + +Amongst those who sit down at the gate till one shall come and open it, +are to be found both the wise and the careless children. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LXXXIX. + + +Mr Cupples returned to his work, for the catalogue had to be printed. + +The weeks and months passed on, and the time drew nigh when it would be +no folly to watch the mail-coach in its pride of scarlet and gold, as +possibly bearing the welcome letter announcing Alec's return. At +length, one morning, Mrs Forbes said: + +"We may look for him every day now, Annie." + +She did not know with what a tender echo her words went roaming about +in Annie's bosom, awaking a thousand thought-birds in the twilight land +of memory, which had tucked their heads under their wings to sleep, and +thereby to live. + +But the days went on and the hope was deferred. The rush of the +_Sea-horse_ did not trouble the sands of the shallow bar, or sweep, +with fiercely ramping figure-head, past the long pier-spike, stretching +like the hand of welcome from the hospitable shore. While they fancied +her full-breasted sails, swelled as with sighs for home, bowing lordly +over the submissive waters, the _Sea-horse_ lay a frozen mass, changed +by the might of the winds and the snow and the frost into the grotesque +ice-gaunt phantom of a ship, through which, the winter long, the winds +would go whistling and raving, crowding upon it the snow and the +crystal icicles, all in the wild waste of the desert north, with no ear +to hear the sadness, and no eye to behold the deathly beauty. + +At length the hope deferred began to make the heart sick. Dim anxiety +passed into vague fear, and then deepened into dull conviction, over +which ever and anon flickered a pale ghostly hope, like the _fatuus_ +over the swamp that has swallowed the unwary wanderer. Each would find +the other wistfully watching to read any thought that might have +escaped the vigilance of its keeper, and come up from the dungeon of +the heart to air itself on the terraces of the face; and each would +drop the glance hurriedly, as if caught in a fault. But the moment came +when their meeting eyes were fixed and they burst into tears, each +accepting the other's confession of hopeless grief as the seal and +doom. + +I will not follow them through the slow shadows of gathering fate. I +will not record the fancies that tormented them, or describe the blank +that fell upon the duties of the day. I will not tell how, as the +winter drew on, they heard his voice calling in the storm for help, or +how through the snow-drifts they saw him plodding wearily home. His +mother forgot her debt, and ceased to care what became of herself. +Annie's anxiety settled into an earnest prayer that she might not rebel +against the will of God. + +But the anxiety of Thomas Crann was not limited to the earthly fate of +the lad. It extended to his fate in the other world--too probably, in +his eyes, that endless, yearless, undivided fate, wherein the breath +still breathed into the soul of man by his Maker is no longer the +breath of life, but the breath of infinite death-- + + Sole Positive of Night, + Antipathist of Light, + +giving to the ideal darkness a real and individual hypostasis in +helpless humanity, keeping men alive that the light in them may +continue to be darkness. + +Terrible were his agonies in wrestling with God for the life of the +lad, and terrible his fear lest his own faith should fail him if his +prayers should not be heard. Alec Forbes was to Thomas Crann as it were +the representative of all his unsaved brothers and sisters of the human +race, for whose sakes he, like the apostle Paul, would have gladly +undergone what he dreaded for them. He went to see his mother; said +"Hoo are ye, mem?" sat down; never opened his lips, except to utter a +few commonplaces; rose and left her--a little comforted. Nor can +anything but human sympathy alleviate the pain while it obscures not +the presence of human grief. Do not remind me that the divine is +better. I know it. But why?--Because the divine is the highest--the +creative human. The sympathy of the Lord himself is the more human that +it is divine. + +And in Annie's face, as she ministered to her friend, shone, +notwithstanding her full share in the sorrow, a light that came not +from sun or stars--as it were a suppressed, waiting light. And Mrs +Forbes felt the holy influences that proceeded both from her and from +Thomas Crann. + +How much easier it is to bear a trouble that comes upon a trouble than +one that intrudes a death's head into the midst of a merry-making! Mrs +Forbes scarcely felt it a trouble when she received a note from Robert +Bruce informing her that, as he was on the point of removing to another +place which offered great advantages for the employment of the little +money he possessed, he would be obliged to her to pay as soon as +possible the hundred pounds she owed him, along with certain arrears of +interest specified. She wrote that it was impossible for her at +present, and forgot the whole affair. But within three days she +received a formal application for the debt from a new solicitor. To +this she paid no attention, just wondering what would come next. After +about three months a second application was made, according to legal +form; and in the month of May a third arrived, with the hint from the +lawyer that his client was now prepared to proceed to extremities; +whereupon she felt for the first time that she must do something. + +She sent for James Dow. + +"Are you going to the market to-day, James?" she asked. + +"'Deed am I, mem." + +"Well, be sure and go into one of the tents, and have a good dinner." + +"'Deed, mem, I'll do naething o' the sort. It's a sin and a shame to +waste gude siller upo' broth an' beef. I'll jist pit a piece +(of oatcake) in my pooch, and that'll fess me hame as well's a' their +kail. I can bide onything but wastrie." + +"It's very foolish of you, James." + +"It's yer pleesur to say sae, mem." + +"Well, tell me what to do about that." + +And she handed him the letter. + +James took it and read it slowly. Then he stared at his mistress. Then +he read it again. At length, with a bewildered look, he said, + +"Gin ye awe the siller, ye maun pay't, mem." + +"But I can't." + +"The Lord preserve's! What's to be dune? _I_ hae bit thirty poun' +hained (saved) up i' my kist. That wadna gang far." + +"No, no, James," returned his mistress. "I am not going to take your +money to pay Mr Bruce." + +"He's an awfu' cratur that, mem. He wad tak the win'in' sheet aff o' +the deid." + +"Well, I must see what can be done. I'll go and consult Mr Gibb." + +James took his leave, dejected on his mistress's account, and on his +own. As he went out, he met Annie. + +"Eh, Annie!" he said; "this is awfu'." + +"What's the matter, Dooie?" + +"That schochlin' (waddling, mean) cratur, Bruce, is mintin' +(threatening) at roupin' the mistress for a wheen siller she's aucht +him." + +"He daurna!" exclaimed Annie. + +"He'll daur onything but tyne (lose) siller. Eh! lassie, gin we hadna +len' 't him yours!" + +"I'll gang till him direcly. But dinna tell the mistress. She wadna +like it." + +"Na, na. I s' haud my tongue, I s' warran'.--Ye're the best cratur ever +was born. She'll maybe perswaud the ill-faured tyke (dog)." + +Murmuring the last two sentences to himself, he walked away. When Annie +entered Bruce's shop, the big spider was unoccupied, and ready to +devour her. He put on therefore his most gracious reception. + +"Hoo are ye, Miss Anderson? I'm glaid to see ye. Come benn the hoose." + +"No, I thank ye. I want to speak to yersel', Mr Bruce. What's a' this +aboot Mrs Forbes and you?" + +"Grit fowk maunna ride ower the tap o' puir fowk like me, Miss +Anderson." + +"She's a widow, Mr Bruce"--Annie could not add "and childless"--"and +lays nae claim to be great fowk. It's no a Christian way o' treatin' +her." + +"Fowk _maun_ hae their ain. It's mine, and I maun hae't. There's +naething agen that i' the ten tables. There's nae gospel for no giein' +fowk their ain. I'm nae a missionar noo. I dinna haud wi' sic things. I +canna beggar my faimily to haud up her muckle hoose. She maun pay me, +or I'll tak' it." + +"Gin ye do, Mr Bruce, ye s' no hae my siller ae minute efter the time's +up; and I'm sorry ye hae't till than." + +"That's neither here nor there. Ye wad be wantin' 't or that time ony +hoo." + +Now Bruce had given up the notion of leaving Glamerton, for he had +found that the patronage of the missionars in grocery was not essential +to a certain measure of success; and he had no intention of proceeding +to an auction of Mrs Forbes's goods, for he saw that would put him in a +worse position with the public than any amount of quiet practice in +lying and stealing. But there was every likelihood of Annie's being +married some day; and then her money would be recalled, and he would be +left without the capital necessary for carrying on his business upon +the same enlarged scale--seeing he now supplied many of the little +country shops. It would be a grand move then, if, by a far-sighted +generalship, a careful copying of the example of his great ancestor, he +could get a permanent hold of some of Annie's property.--Hence had come +the descent upon Mrs Forbes, and here came its success. + +"Ye s' hae as muckle o' mine to yer nainsel' as'll clear Mrs Forbes," +said Annie. + +"Weel. Verra weel.--But ye see that's mine for twa year and a half ony +gait. That wad only amunt to losin' her interest for twa year an' a +half--a'thegither. That winna do." + +"What will do, than, Mr Bruce?" + +"I dinna ken. I want my ain." + +"But ye maunna torment her, Mr Bruce. Ye ken that." + +"Weel! I'm open to onything rizzonable. There's the enterest for twa +an' a half--ca' 't three years--at what I could mak' o' 't--say aucht +per cent--four and twenty poun'. Syne there's her arrears o' +interest--and syne there's the loss o' the ower-turn--and syne there's +the loss o' the siller that ye winna hae to len' me.--Gin ye gie me a +quittance for a hunner an' fifty poun', I'll gie her a receipt.--It'll +be a sair loss to me!" + +"Onything ye like," said Annie. + +And Bruce brought out papers already written by his lawyer, one of +which he signed and the other she. + +"Ye'll min'," he added, as she was leaving the shop, "that I hae to pay +ye no interest noo excep' upo' fifty poun'?" + +He had paid her nothing for the last half year at least. + +He would not have dared to fleece the girl thus, had she had any +legally constituted guardians; or had those who would gladly have +interfered, had power to protect her. But he took care so to word the +quittance, that in the event of any thing going wrong, he might yet +claim his hundred pounds from Mrs Forbes. + +Annie read over the receipt, and saw that she had involved herself in a +difficulty. How would Mrs Forbes take it? She begged Bruce not to tell +her, and he was ready enough to consent. He did more. He wrote to Mrs +Forbes to the effect that, upon reflection, he had resolved to drop +further proceedings for the present; and when she carried him a +half-year's interest, he took it in silence, justifying himself on the +ground that the whole transaction was of doubtful success, and he must +therefore secure what he could secure. + +As may well be supposed, Annie had very little money to give away now; +and this subjected her to a quite new sense of suffering. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XC. + + +It was a dreary wintry summer to all at Howglen. Why should the ripe +corn wave deep-dyed in the gold of the sunbeams, when Alec lay frozen +in the fields of ice, or sweeping about under them like a broken +sea-weed in the waters so cold, so mournful? Yet the work of the world +must go on. The corn must be reaped. Things must be bought and sold. +Even the mourners must eat and drink. The stains which the day had +gathered must be washed from the brow of the morning; and the dust to +which Alec had gone down must be swept from the chair in which he had +been wont to sit. So things did go on--of themselves as it were, for no +one cared much about them, although it was the finest harvest that year +that Howglen had ever borne. It had begun at length to appear that the +old labour had not been cast into a dead grave, but into a living soil, +like that of which Sir Philip Sidney says in his sixty-fifth psalm: + + "Each clodd relenteth at thy dressing," + +as if it were a human soul that had bethought itself and began to bring +forth fruit.--This might be the beginning of good things. But what did +it matter? + +Annie grew paler, but relaxed not a single effort to fill her place. +She told her poor friends that she had no money now, and could not help +them; but most were nearly as glad to see her as before; while one of +them who had never liked receiving alms from a girl in such a lowly +position, as well as some who had always taken them thankfully, loved +her better when she had nothing to give. + +She renewed her acquaintance with Peter Whaup, the blacksmith, through +his wife, who was ill, and received her visits gladly. + +"For," she said, "she's a fine douce lass, and speyks to ye as gin ye +war ither fowk, and no as gin she kent a'thing, and cam to tell ye the +muckle half o' 't." + +I wonder how much her friends understood of what she read to them? She +did not confine herself to the Bible, which indeed she was a little shy +of reading except they wanted it, but read anything that pleased +herself, never doubting that "ither fowk" could enjoy what she enjoyed. +She even tried the _Paradise Lost_ upon Mrs Whaup, as she had tried it +long ago upon Tibbie Dyster; and Mrs Whaup never seemed tired of +listening to it. I daresay she understood about as much of it as poets +do of the celestial harmonies ever toning around them. + +And Peter Whaup was once known, when more than half drunk, to stop his +swearing in mid-volley, simply because he had caught a glimpse of Annie +at the other end of the street. + +So the maiden grew in favour. Her beauty, both inward and outward, was +that of the twilight, of a morning cloudy with high clouds, or of a +silvery sea: it was a spiritual beauty for the most part. And her +sorrow gave a quiet grace to her demeanour, peacefully ripening it into +what is loveliest in ladyhood. She always looked like one +waiting--sometimes like one listening, as she waited, to "melodies +unheard." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XCI. + + +One night, in the end of October, James Dow was walking by the side of +his cart along a lonely road, through a peat-moss, on his way to the +nearest sea-port for a load of coals. The moon was high and full. He +was approaching a solitary milestone in the midst of the moss. It was +the loneliest place. Low swells of peat-ground, the burial places of +old forests, rolled away on every side, with, here and there, patches +of the white-bearded canna-down, or cotton-grass, glimmering doubtfully +as the Wind woke and turned himself on the wide space, where he found +nothing to puff at but those same little old fairies sunning their +hoary beards in the strange moon. As Dow drew near to the milestone he +saw an odd-looking figure seated upon it. He was about to ask him if he +would like a lift, when the figure rose, and cried joyfully, + +"Jamie Doo!" + +James Dow staggered back, and was nearly thrown down by the +slow-rolling wheel; for the voice was Alec Forbes's. He gasped for +breath, and felt as if he were recovering from a sudden stroke of +paralysis, during which everything about him had passed away and a new +order come in. All that he was capable of was to cry _wo!_ to his +horse. + +There stood Alec, in rags, with a face thin but brown--healthy, bold, +and firm. He looked ten years older standing there in the moonlight. + +"The Lord preserve's!" cried Dow, and could say no more. + +"He has preserved me, ye see, Jeamie. Hoo's my mother?" + +"She's brawly, brawly, Mr Alec. The Lord preserve's! She's been +terrible aboot ye. Ye maunna gang in upo' her. It wad kill her." + +"I hae a grainy sense left, Jeamie. But I'm awfu' tired. Ye maun jist +turn yer cairt and tak' me hame. I'll be worth a lade o' coal to my +mither ony gait. An' syne ye can brak it till her." + +Without another word, Dow turned his horse, helped Alec into the cart, +covered him with his coat and some straw, and strode away beside, not +knowing whether he was walking in a dream, or in a real starry night. +Alec fell fast asleep, and never waked till the cart stood still, about +midnight, at his mother's door. He started up. + +"Lie still, Mr Alec," said Dow, in a whisper. "The mistress 'll be in +her bed. And gin ye gang in upo' her that gait, ye'll drive her daft." + +Alec lay down again, and Dow went to Mary's window, on the other side, +to try to wake her. But just as he returned, Alec heard his mother's +window open. + +"Who's there?" she called. + +"Naebody but me, Jeamie Doo," answered James. "I was half-gaits to +Portlokie, whan I had a mishap upo' the road. Bettie pat her fit upon a +sharp stane, and fell doon, and bruik baith her legs." + +"How did she come home then?" + +"She bude to come hame, mem." + +"Broke her legs!" + +"Hoot, mem--her k-nees. I dinna mean the banes, ye ken, mem; only the +skin. But she wasna fit to gang on. And sae I brocht her back." + +"What's that i' the cairt? Is't onything deid?" + +"Na, mem, de'il a bit o' 't! It's livin' eneuch. It's a stranger lad +that I gae a lift till upo' the road. He's fell tired." + +But Dow's voice trembled, or--or something or other revealed all to the +mother's heart. She gave a great cry. Alec sprung from the cart, rushed +into the house, and was in his mother's arms. + +Annie was asleep in the next room, but she half awoke with a sense of +his presence. She had heard his voice through the folds of sleep. And +she thought she was lying on the rug before the dining-room fire, with +Alec and his mother at the tea-table, as on that night when he brought +her in from the snow-hut. Finding out confusedly that the supposition +did not correspond with some other vague consciousness, she supposed +next that she "had died in sleep and was a blessed ghost," just going +to find Alec in heaven. That was abandoned in its turn, and all at once +she knew that she was in her own bed, and that Alec and his mother were +talking in the next room. + +She rose, but could hardly dress herself for trembling. When she was +dressed she sat down on the edge of the bed to bethink herself. + +The joy was almost torture, but it had a certain qualifying bitter in +it. Ever since she had believed him dead, Alec had been so near to her! +She had loved him as much as ever she would. But Life had come in +suddenly, and divided those whom Death had joined. Now he was a great +way off; and she dared not speak to him whom she had cherished in her +heart. Modesty took the telescope from the hands of Love, and turning +it, put the larger end to Annie's eye. Ever since her confession to +Curly, she had been making fresh discoveries in her own heart; and now +the tide of her love swelled so strong that she felt it must break out +in an agony of joy, and betray her if once she looked in the face of +Alec alive from the dead. Nor was this all. What she had done about his +mother's debt, must come out soon; and although Alec could not think +that she meant to lay him under obligation, he might yet feel under +obligation, and that she could not bear. These things and many more so +worked in the sensitive maiden that as soon as she heard Alec and his +mother go to the dining-room she put on her bonnet and cloak, stole +like a thief through the house to the back door, and let herself out +into the night. + +She avoided the path, and went through the hedge into a field of +stubble at the back of the house across which she made her way to the +turnpike road and the new bridge over the Glamour. Often she turned to +look back to the window of the room where he that had been dead was +alive and talking with his widowed mother; and only when the +intervening trees hid it from her sight did she begin to think what she +should do. She could think of nothing but to go to her aunt once more, +and ask her to take her in for a few days. So she walked on through the +sleeping town. + +Not a soul was awake, and the stillness was awful. It was a place of +tombs. And those tombs were haunted by dreams. Away towards the west, +the moon lay on the steep-sloping edge of a rugged cloud, appearing to +have rolled half-way down from its lofty peak, and about to be launched +off its baseless bulk into + + "the empty, vast, and wandering air." + +In the middle of the large square of the little gray town she stood and +looked around her. All one side lay in shade; the greater part of the +other three lay in moonlight. The old growth of centuries, gables and +fronts--stepping out into the light, retreating into the +shadow--outside stairs and dark gateways, stood up in the night warding +a townful of sleepers. Not one would be awake now. Ah yes! there was +light in the wool-carder's window. His wife was dying. That light over +the dying, wiped the death-look from the face of the sleeping town, +Annie roused herself and passed on, fearing to be seen. It was the only +thing to be afraid of. But the stillness was awful. One silence only +could be more awful: the same silence at noon-day. + +So she passed into the western road and through the trees to the bridge +over the Wan Water. They stood so still in the moonlight! And the smell +from the withering fields laid bare of the harvest and breathing out +their damp odours, came to her mixed with the chill air from the dark +hills around, already spiced with keen atoms of frost, soon to appear +in spangly spikes. Beneath the bridge the river flowed maunderingly, +blundering out unintelligible news of its parent bog and all the dreary +places it had come through on its way to the strath of Glamerton, which +nobody listened to but one glad-hearted, puzzle-brained girl, who stood +looking down into it from the bridge when she ought to have been in bed +and asleep. She was not far from Clippenstrae, but she could not go +there so early, for her aunt would be frightened first and angry next. +So she wandered up the stream to the old church-forsaken churchyard, +and sat on one of the tombstones. It became very cold as the morning +drew on. The moon went down; the stars grew dim; the river ran with a +livelier murmur; and through all the fine gradations of dawn--cloudy +wind and grey sky--the gates of orange and red burst open, and the sun +came forth rejoicing. The long night was over. It had not been a very +weary one; for Annie had thoughts of her own, and like the earth in the +warm summer nights, could shine and flash up through the dark, seeking +the face of God in the altar-flame of prayer. Yet she was glad when the +sun came. With the first bubble of the spring of light bursting out on +the hill-top, she rose and walked through the long shadows of the +graves down to the river and through the long shadows of the stubble +down the side of the river, which shone in the morning light like a +flowing crystal of delicate brown--and so to Clippenstrae, where she +found her aunt still in her night-cap. She was standing at the door, +however, shading her eyes with her hand, looking abroad as if for some +one that might be crossing hitherward from the east. She did not see +Annie approaching from the north. + +"What are ye luikin' for, auntie?" + +"Naething. Nae for you, ony gait, lassie." + +"Weel, ye see, I'm come ohn luikit for. But ye was luikin' for +somebody, auntie." + +"Na. I was only jist luikin'." + +Even Annie did not then know that it was the soul's hunger, the vague +sense of a need which nothing but the God of human faces, the God of +the morning and of the starful night, the God of love and +self-forgetfulness, can satisfy, that sent her money-loving, +poverty-stricken, pining, grumbling old aunt out staring towards the +east. It is this formless idea of something at hand that keeps men and +women striving to tear from the bosom of the world the secret of their +own hopes. How little they know what they look for in reality is their +God! This is that for which their heart and their flesh cry out. + +Lead, lead me on, my Hopes. I know that ye are true and not vain. +Vanish from my eyes day after day, but arise in new forms. I will +follow your holy deception;--follow till ye have brought me to the feet +of my Father in Heaven, where I shall find you all with folded wings +spangling the sapphire dusk whereon stands His throne, which is our +home. + +"What do ye want sae ear's this, Annie Anderson?" + +Margaret's first thought was always--"What can the body be wantin'?" + +"I want ye to tak' me in for a while," answered Annie. + +"For an hoor or twa? Ow ay." + +"Na. For a week or twa maybe." + +"'Deed no. I'll do naething o' the kin', Lat them 'at made ye prood, +keep ye prood." + +"I'm nae prood, auntie. What gars ye say that?" + +"Sae prood 'at ye wadna tak' a gude offer whan it was i' yer pooer. And +syne they turn ye oot whan it shuits themsels. Gentle fowks is sair +misca'd (misnamed). I'm no gaein' to tak' ye in. There's Dawvid Gordon +wants a lass. Ye can jist gang till a place like ither fowk." + +"I'll gang and luik efter 't direckly. Hoo far is't, Auntie?" + +"Gaein' and giein' awa' yer siller to beggars as gin 't war stew +(dust), jist to be a gran' lady! Ye're nane sae gran', _I_ can tell ye. +An' syne comin' to puir fowk like me to tak' ye in for a week or twa! +Weel I wat!" + +Auntie had been listening to evil tongues--so much easier to listen to +than just tongues. With difficulty Annie kept back her tears. She made +no defence; tried to eat the porridge which her aunt set before her; +and departed. Before three hours were over, she had the charge of the +dairy and cooking at Willowcraig for the next six months of coming +winter and spring. Protected from suspicion, her spirits rose all the +cheerier for their temporary depression, and she went singing about the +house like a _lintie_. + +"As she did not appear at breakfast, and was absent from the +dinner-table as well, Mrs Forbes set out with Alec to inquire after +her, and not knowing where else to go first, betook herself to Robert +Bruce. He showed more surprise than pleasure at seeing Alec, smiling +with his own acridness as he said, + +"I doobt ye haena brocht hame that barrel o' ile ye promised me, Mr +Alec? It wad hae cleared aff a guid sheave o' yer mither's debts." + +Alec answered cheerily, although his face flushed, + +"All in good time, I hope, Mr Bruce. I'm obliged to you for your +forbearance, though." + +He was too solemn-glad to be angry. + +"It canna laist for ever, ye ken," rejoined Bruce, happy to be able to +bite, although his poison-bag was gone. + +Alec made no reply. + +"Have you seen Annie Anderson to-day, Mr Bruce?" asked his mother. + +"'Deed no, mem. She doesna aften trouble huz wi' her company. We're no +gran' eneuch for her." + +"Hasn't she been here to-day?" repeated Mrs Forbes, with discomposure +in her look and tone. + +"Hae ye tint her, mem?" rejoined Bruce. "That _is_ a peety. She'll be +awa' wi' that vaigabone, Willie Macwha. He was i' the toon last nicht. +I saw him gang by wi' Baubie Peterson." + +They made him no reply, understanding well enough that though the one +premise might be true, the conclusion must be as false as it was +illogical and spiteful. They did not go to George Macwha's, but set out +for Clippenstrae. When they reached the cottage, they found Meg's nose +in full vigour. + +"Na. She's no here. What for sud she be here? She has no claim upo' me, +although it pleases you to turn her oot--efter bringin' her up to +notions that hae jist ruined her wi' pride." + +"Indeed I didn't turn her out, Miss Anderson." + +"Weel, ye sud never hae taen her in." + +There was something in her manner which made them certain she knew +where Annie was; but as she avoided every attempt to draw her into the +admission, they departed foiled, although relieved. She knew well +enough that Annie's refuge could not long remain concealed, but she +found it pleasant to annoy Mrs Forbes. + +And not many days passed before Mrs Forbes did learn where Annie was. +But she was so taken up with her son, that weeks even passed before +that part of her nature which needed a daughter's love began to assert +itself again, and turn longingly towards her all but adopted child. + +Alec went away once more to the great town. He had certain remnants of +study to gather up at the university, and a certain experience to go +through in the preparation of drugs, without which he could not obtain +his surgeon's diploma. The good harvest would by and by put a little +money in his mother's hands, and the sooner he was ready to practise +the better. + +The very day after he went, Mrs Forbes drove to Willowcraig to see +Annie. She found her short-coated and short-wrappered, like any other +girl at a farmhouse. Annie was rather embarrassed at the sight of her +friend. Mrs Forbes could easily see, however, that there was no breach +in her affection towards her. Yet it must be confessed that having +regard to the final return of her son, she was quite as well pleased to +know that she was bound to remain where she was for some time to come. + +She found the winter very dreary without her, though. + + + + + + +CHARTER XCII. + + +Finding herself in good quarters, Annie re-engaged herself at the end +of the half-year. She had spent the winter in house work, combined with +the feeding of pigs and poultry, and partial ministrations to the wants +of the cows, of which she had milked the few continuing to give milk +upon turnips and straw, and made the best of their scanty supply for +the use of the household. There was no hardship in her present life. +She had plenty of wholesome food to eat, and she lay warm at night. The +old farmer, who was rather overbearing with his men, was kind to her +because he liked her; and the guidwife was a sonsy (well conditioned) +dame, who, when she scolded, never meant anything by it. + +She cherished her love for Alec, but was quite peaceful as to the +future. How she might have felt had she heard that he was going to be +married, I cannot take upon me to say. + +When her work was done, she would go out for a lonely walk, without +asking leave or giving offence, indulging in the same lawlessness as +before, and seeming incapable of being restrained by other bonds than +those of duty. + +And now the month of April was nearly over, and the primroses were +_glintin'_ on the braes. + +One evening she went out bare-headed to look how a certain den, wont to +be haunted by wild-flowers and singing-birds, was getting on towards +its complement of summer pleasures. As she was climbing over a fence, a +horseman came round the corner of the road. She saw at a glance that it +was Alec, and got down again. + +Change had passed upon both since they parted. He was a full-grown man +with a settled look. She was a lovely woman, even more delicate and +graceful than her childhood had promised. + +As she got down from the fence, he got down from his horse. Without a +word on either side, their hands joined, and still they stood silent +for a minute, Annie with her eyes on the ground, Alec gazing in her +face, which was pale with more than its usual paleness. + +"I saw Curly yesterday," said Alec at length, with what seemed to Annie +a meaning look. + +Her face flushed as red as fire.--Could Curly have betrayed her? + +She managed to stammer out, + +"Oh! Did you? + +And then silence fell again. + +"Eh! Alec," she said at length, taking up the conversation, in her +turn, "we thought we would never see ye again." + +"I thought so too," answered Alec, "when the great berg came down on us +through the snow-storm, and flung the barque upon the floe with her +side crushed in.--How I used to dream about the old school-days, Annie, +and finding you in my hut!--And I did find you in the snow, Annie." + +But a figure came round the other corner--for the road made a double +sweep at this point--and cried-- + +"Annie, come hame direcly. Ye're wantit." + +"I'm coming to see you again soon, Annie," said Alec. "But I must go +away for a mouth or two first." + +Annie replied with a smile and an outstretched hand--nothing more. She +could wait well enough. + +How lovely the flowers in the dyke-sides looked as she followed Mrs +Gordon home! But the thought that perhaps Curly had told him something +was like the serpent under them. Yet somehow she had got so beautiful +before she reached the house, that her aunt, who had come to see her, +called out, + +"Losh! lassie! What hae ye been aboot? Ye hae a colour by ordinar'." + +"That's easy accoontet for," said her mistress roguishly. "She was +stan'in' killoguin wi' a bonnie young lad an' a horse. I winna hae sic +doin's aboot my hoose, I can tell ye, lass." + +Margaret Anderson flew into a passion, and abused her with many words, +which Annie, so far from resenting, scarcely even heard. At length she +ceased, and departed almost without an adieu. But what did it +matter?--What did any earthly thing matter, if only Curly had not told +him? + +Now, all that Curly had told Alec was that Annie was not engaged to +him. + +So the days and nights passed, and Spring, the girl, changed into +Summer, the woman; and still Alec did not come. + +One evening, when a wind that blew from the west, and seemed to smell +of the roses of the sunset, was filling her rosy heart with joy--Annie +sat in a rough little seat, scarcely an arbour, at the bottom of a +garden of the true country order, where all the dear old-fashioned +glories of sweet-peas, cabbage-roses, larkspur, gardener's garters, +honesty, poppies, and peonies, grew in homely companionship with +gooseberry and currant bushes, with potatoes and pease. The scent of +the sunset came in reality from a _cheval de frise_ of wallflower on +the coping of the low stone wall behind where she was sitting with her +Milton. She read aloud in a low voice that sonnet beginning "_Lady that +in the prime of earliest youth_." As she finished it, a voice, as low, +said, almost in her ear, + +"That's you, Annie." + +Alec was looking over the garden wall behind her. + +"Eh, Alec," she cried, starting to her feet, at once shocked and +delighted, "dinna say that. It's dreidfu' to hear ye say sic a thing. I +wish I was a wee like her." + +"Weel, Annie, I think ye're jist like her. But come oot wi' me. I hae a +story to tell ye. Gie me yer han', and pit yer fit upo' the seat." + +She was over the wall in a moment, and they were soon seated under the +trees of the copse near which Annie had met him before. The brown +twilight was coming on, and a warm sleepy hush pervaded earth and air, +broken only by the stream below them, cantering away over its stones to +join the Wan Water. Neither of them was inclined to quarrel with the +treeless country about them: they were lapped in foliage; nor with the +desolate moorland hills around them: they only drove them closer +together. + +Time unmeasured by either passed without speech. + +"They tell't me," said Alec at length, "that you and Curly had made it +up." + +"Alec!" exclaimed Annie, and looked up in his face as if he had accused +her of infidelity, but, instantly dropping her eyes, said no more. + +"I wad hae fun' ye oot afore a day was ower, gin it hadna been for +that." + +Annie's heart beat violently, but she said nothing, and, after a +silence, Alec went on. + +"Did my mother ever tell ye about how the barque was lost?" + +"No, Alec." + +"It was a terrible snow-storm with wind. We couldn't see more than a +few yards a-head. We were under bare poles, but we couldn't keep from +drifting. All in a moment a huge ghastly thing came out of the gloamin' +to windward, bore down on us like a spectre, and dashed us on a +floating field of ice. The barque was thrown right upon it with one +side stove in; but nobody was killed. It was an awful night, Annie; but +I'm not going to tell you about it now. We made a rough sledge, and +loaded it with provisions, and set out westward, and were carried +westward at the same time on the floe, till we came near land. Then we +launched our boat and got to the shore of Greenland. There we set out +travelling southwards. Many of our men died, do what I could to keep +them alive. But I'll tell you all about it another time, if you'll let +me. What I want to tell you noo's this.--Ilka nicht, as sure as I lay +doon i' the snaw to sleep, I dreamed I was at hame. A' the auld stories +cam' back. I woke ance, thinkin' I was carryin' you throu' the water i' +the lobby o' the schuil, and that ye was greitin' upo' my face. And +whan I woke, my face was weet. I doobt I had been greitin mysel'. A' +the auld faces cam' roon' me ilka nicht, Thomas Crann and Jeames Dow +and my mother--whiles ane and whiles anither--but ye was aye there. + +"Ae mornin', whan I woke up, I was my lane. I dinna ken richtly hoo it +had happened. I think the men war nigh-han' dazed wi' the terrible +cauld and the weariness o' the traivel, and I had sleepit ower lang, +and they had forgotten a' aboot me. And what think ye was the first +thocht i' my heid, whan I cam' to mysel', i' the terrible white +desolation o' cauld and ice and snaw? I wantit to run straucht to you, +and lay my heid upo' yer shouther. For I had been dreamin' a' nicht +that I was lyin' i' my bed at hame, terrible ill, and ye war gaein +aboot the room like an angel, wi' the glimmer o' white wings aboot ye, +which I reckon was the snaw comin' throu' my dream. And ye wad never +come near me; and I cudna speak to cry to ye to come; till at last, +whan my hert was like to brak 'cause ye wadna luik at me, ye turned wi' +tears i' yer een, and cam' to the bedside and leaned ower me, and--" + +Here Alec's voice failed him. + +"Sae ye see it was nae wonner that I wantit you, whan I fand mysel' a' +my lane i' the dreidfu' place, the very beauty o' which was deidly. + +"Weel, that wasna a'. I got mair that day than I thocht ever to get. +Annie, I think what Thomas Crann used to say maun be true. Annie, I +think a body may some day get a kin' o' a sicht o' the face o' God.--I +was sae dooncast, whan I saw mysel' left ahin', that I sat doon upon a +rock and glowered at naething. It was awfu'. An' it grew waur and waur, +till the only comfort I had was that I cudna live lang. And wi' that +the thocht o' God cam' into my heid, and it seemed as gin I had a +richt, as it war, to call upon him--I was sae miserable. + +"And there cam' ower me a quaietness, and like a warm breath o' spring +air. I dinna ken what it was--but it set me upo' my feet, and I startit +to follow the lave. Snaw had fa'en, sae that I could hardly see the +track. And I never cam' up wi' them, and I haena heard o' them sin' +syne. + +"The silence at first had been fearfu'; but noo, somehoo or ither, I +canna richtly explain 't, the silence seemed to be God himsel' a' aboot +me. + +"And I'll never forget him again, Annie. + +"I cam' upo' tracks, but no o' oor ain men. They war the fowk o' the +country. And they brocht me whaur there was a schooner lyin' ready to +gang to Archangel. And here I am." + +Was there ever a gladder heart than Annie's? She was weeping as if her +life would flow away in tears. She had known that Alec would come back +to God some day. + +He ceased speaking, but she could not cease weeping. If she had tried +to stop the tears, she would have been torn with sobs. They sat silent +for a long time. At length Alec spoke again: + +"Annie, I don't deserve it--but _will_ you be my wife some day?" + +And all the answer Annie made was to lay her head on his bosom and weep +on. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XCIII. + + +Is it worth while, I debate with myself, to write one word more?--Shall +I tie the ends of my warp, or leave them loose?--I will tie them, but +no one needs sit out the process. + +The farm of Howglen prospered. Alec never practised in his profession, +but became a first-rate farmer. Within two years Annie and he were +married, and began a new chapter of their history. + +When Mrs Forbes found that Alec and Annie were engaged, she discovered +that she had been in reality wishing it for a long time, and that the +opposing sense of duty had been worldly. + +Mr Cupples came to see them every summer, and generally remained over +the harvest. He never married. But he wrote a good book. + +Thomas Crann and he had many long disputes, and did each other good. +Thomas grew gentler as he grew older. And he learned to hope more for +other people. And then he hoped more for himself too. + +The first time Curly saw Annie after the wedding, he was amazed at his +own presumption in ever thinking of marrying such a lady. When about +thirty, by which time he had a good business of his own, he married +Isie Constable--still little, still old-fashioned, and still wise. + +Margaret Anderson was taken good care of by Annie Forbes, but kept +herself clear of all obligation by never acknowledging any. + +Robert Bruce had to refund, and content himself with his rights. He +died worth a good deal of money notwithstanding, which must have been a +great comfort to him at the last. + +Young Robert is a clergyman, has married a rich wife, hopes to be +Moderator of the Assembly some day, and never alludes to his royal +ancestor. + + THE END. + +Note from John Bechard, transcriber of this electronic text. + +The following is a list of Scottish words found in George MacDonald's +_Alec Forbes of Howglen_. I have compiled this list myself and worked +out the definitions from context with the help of Margaret West, from +Leven in Fife, Scotland, and also by referring to a word list found in +a collection of poems by Robert Burns, _Chamber's Scots Dialect +Dictionary from the 17th century to the Present_ c. 1911 and +_Scots-English English-Scots Dictionary_ Lomond Books c. 1998. I have +tried to be as thorough as possible given the limited resources and +welcome any feedback on this list (my e-mail address is +JaBBechard@aol.com). This was never meant to be a comprehensive list of +the Scots Dialect, but rather an aid to understanding some of the +conversations and references that appear in this novel. I do apologise +for any mistakes or omissions. I aimed for my list to be very +comprehensive, and it often repeats the same word in a plural or +diminutive form. As well, it includes words that are quite obvious to +native English speakers, only spelled in such a way to demonstrate the +regional pronunciation. + +This list is a compressed format that consists of three columns for +'word', 'definition', and 'notes'. It is set up with a comma between +each item and a hard return at the end of each definition. This means +that this section could easily be cut and pasted into its own text file +and imported into a database or spreadsheet as a comma separated +variable file (.csv file). Failing that, you could do a search and +replace for commas in this section (I have not used any commas in my +words, definitions or notes) and replace the commas with spaces or +tabs. + +Word,Definition,Notes +a',all; every,also have +a' gait,everywhere, +a' thing,everything; anything, +abettin',abetting, +a'body,everyone; everybody, +aboon,above; up; over,also beyond; more than +aboot,about, +ac',act, +accep',accept, +accoont,account, +accoontet,accounted, +accoontit,accounted, +accordin',according, +acquant,acquainted, +actin',acting, +addin',adding, +ado,stir; excitement, +ae,one, +aff,off; away; past; beyond, +affeenity,affinity, +affoord,afford, +affront,affront; disgrace; shame, +affrontit,affronted; disgraced,also ashamed; shamed +afore,before; in front of, +aforehan',beforehand, +aften,often, +aftener,more often, +again',against, +agen,against, +agin,again, +aglintin',twinkling; gleaming, +Ahchan,Achan,reference to Joshua 7 +aheid,ahead, +ahin,behind; after; at the back of, +ahin',behind; after; at the back of, +ahint,behind; after; at the back of, +aiblins,perhaps; possibly, +aich,ach,also echo +Aidam,Adam, +aidin',aiding, +aik,oak, +ain,own,also one +airch,arch, +airm,arm, +airms,arms,also coat of arms; crest +airmy,army, +airt,quarter; direction; compass point,also art +airthly,earthly, +aise,ashes, +aith,oath, +aither,either, +alack,alas, +alane,alone, +alang,along, +alloo,allow, +allooance,allowance, +allooed,allowed, +allooin',allowing, +alloos,allows, +Almichty,Almighty; God, +amaist,almost, +amo',among, +amunt,amount, +an',and, +anawtomy,anatomy, +ance,once, +ane,one,also a single person or thing +aneath,beneath; under, +Anerew,Andrew, +anes,ones,also once +anger,anger; make angry,also grieve +angert,angered; angry,also grieved +anither,another, +appeteet,appetite, +a'ready,already, +arena,are not, +arles,money paid as an earnest,also one's deserts; thrashing +asclent,obliquely, +aside,beside,also aside +asides,beside; besides, +as'll,as will, +aspec',aspect, +'at,that, +a'thegeether,all together, +a'thegether,all together, +a'thegither,all together, +a'thing,everything; anything, +athort,across; over; through, +'at's,that is; that has, +attemp',attempt, +atten'in',attending, +attoarneys,attorneys, +atween,between, +aucht,eight; eighth,also ought; anything; own; possess; owed +auchteen,eighteen, +auld,old, +auld-farrand,old-fashioned,also droll; witty; quaint +ava,at all; of all,exclamation of banter; ridicule +ava',at all; of all,exclamation of banter; ridicule +awa,away; distant,also off; be off; go away +awa',away; distant,also off; be off; go away +awar',aware, +awauk,awake, +Awbrahawm,Abraham, +awe,owe,also own +aweel,ah well; well then; well, +awfu',awful, +awin,owing, +ay,yes; indeed,exclamation of surprise; wonder +aye,yes; indeed, +ayont,beyond; after, +ba',ball (snowball), +baad,bad, +backbane,backbone, +backwater,too much water in a mill-lade,hindering the revolution of the wheel +back-yett,back-gate, +bade,did bide; waited, +bairn,child, +bairnie,little child,diminutive +bairnies,little children,diminutive +bairns,children, +baith,both, +band,bound, +bane,bone, +banes,bones, +barkit,clotted; encrusted,hardened on the skin +barrow,wheelbarrow, +bauchles,old pair of shoes,also shoes down at the heel +Baudrons,kindly designation for a cat, +bauld,bold, +bawbee,halfpenny, +bawbees,halfpennies, +beadin',beading, +bearin',bearing, +bearin's,bearings, +beastie,beast; animal,diminutive to express sympathy or affection +becomin',becoming, +beeriet,buried, +beet,boot, +beginnin',beginning, +begud,began, +bein',being, +bein's,beings, +beir,bear, +beirers,bearers, +beirin',bearing; allowing, +beirs,bears, +bejan,first year's student,at a Scottish university +bejans,first year's students,at a Scottish university +belang,belong, +belanged,belonged, +believin',believing, +belongin's,belongings, +belongt,belonged, +ben,in; inside; into; within; inwards,also inner room +bena,be not; is not, +ben-end,best room in the house,pertaining to a two-roomed house +benn,in; inside; into; within; inwards,also inner room +benn the hoose,in/into the parlour,best room of the house +best-natered,best natured, +bet,bit, +beuk,book,also Bible +beuks,books, +bewaur,beware, +bick,bitch, +bicks,bitches, +biddin',bidding, +bide,endure; bear; remain; live,also desire; wish; bide +bides,endures; bears; remains; lives,also stays for; bides +bidin',enduring; bearing; remaining; living,also desiring; wishing; biding +big,build, +bigget,built, +biggin,building, +biggit,built, +bigs,builds, +bilin',boiling,also the whole quantity +bin',bind, +binna,be not; is not, +birk,birch; birch tree, +birken,birch (wood), +birr,force; energy; violence, +birstled,scorched, +birthricht,birthright, +bit,but; bit; morsel of food,also small; little--diminutive +bit and sup,food and drink, +bitet,bit,past participle of bite +bitter,spiteful, +bittie,little bit,diminutive +bitties,little bits,diminutive +blackin',blacking, +blae,blue, +blaeberries,blueberries, +blast,blast,also use big words or strong language +blastie,little blast; gust,diminutive +blastin',blasting,also using big words or strong language +blastit,blasted,also used big words or strong language +blaud,spoil; injure; soil, +blaudeth,spoileth,King James Bible style of speech +blaudin',spoiling; injuring; soiling, +blaudit,spoiled; injured; soiled, +blaw,blow, +blawin',blowing, +blawn,blown, +blazin',blazing, +bleedin',bleeding, +blin',blind, +blinkin',shining; gleaming; twinkling, +blinlins,blindly, +blin'ness,blindness, +blin's,blinds, +blude,blood, +bluid,blood, +bluidy,bloody, +boady,body, +boasom,bosom, +boatle,bottle (of whisky), +bobbin',bobbing, +boddom,bottom, +bodies,people; fellows; folk, +body,person; fellow,also body +bonnie,good; beautiful; pretty; handsome, +bonnier,better; more beautiful; prettier, +bonniest,best; most beautiful; prettiest,also considerable +bonny,good; beautiful; pretty; handsome, +booed,bowed, +bossie,large wooden bowl,serving bowl +bothie,cottage in common for farm-servants, +boucht,bought, +boun',bound, +brack,break, +brackin',breaking, +bracks,breaks, +brae,hill; hillside; high ground by a river, +braes,hills; hillsides; high ground by a river, +braggin',bragging, +braid,broad; having a strong accent, +brak,break, +brak',break, +brakfast,breakfast, +brakin',breaking, +brat,child,term of contempt +braw,beautiful; good; fine,also lovely (girl); handsome (boy) +brawly,admirably; very; very much; well, +breathin',breathing, +breedin',breeding, +breek-pooch,trouser pocket, +breeks,breeches; trousers, +breest,breast, +breid,bread, +breist,breast, +briest,breast, +brig,bridge, +brigs,bridges, +brimstane,brimstone, +bringin',bringing, +brither,brother, +brithers,brothers; fellows, +brithren,brethren; brothers, +brocht,brought, +brods,boards; (book covers), +broo,brow; eyebrow,also brew; liquor +broon,brown, +brose,water; soup; meal; oatmeal pudding, +broucht,brought, +bruik,broke, +brunstane,brimstone, +brunt,burned, +buckie,periwinkle,also trifle of no value +bude,would prefer to; behoved,also must; had to +buik,book,also Bible +buikie,little book,diminutive +buiks,books, +buird,board, +buirds,boards, +bunce,bounce, +burnie,little stream,diminutive +burnin',burning, +burnin's,burnings, +burns,water; streams; brooks, +buryin',burying,also funeral +but,main room in a croft; outside,includes kitchen and storage; also but +butt,main room in a croft; outside,includes kitchen and storage +butt the hoose,into the house; into the kitchen, +by gangs,passes by; goes by, +by ordinar,out of the ordinary; supernatural,also unusual; exceptional +by ordinar',out of the ordinary; supernatural,also unusual; exceptional +bye and aboon,over and above, +byganes,bygones, +bykes,hives; swarms; crowds,also bees' or wasps' nests +byous,exceedingly; extraordinary; very, +byre,cowshed, +byre-wa',cowshed wall, +ca,drive; impell; hammer, +ca',call; name, +ca'd,called,also driven; impelled; hammered +cadger,carrier; peddlar, +cairt,card,also cart +cairts,cards, +calcleation,calculation, +callan,stripling; lad,term of affection +caller,fresh; refreshing; cool, +cam,came, +cam',came, +camna,did not come, +camstairie,unmanageable; wild; obstinate,also perverse +cankert,cross; ill-humoured,also fretful +can'le,candle, +can'le-licht,candle-light, +can'les,candles, +canna,cannot,also cotton-grass +canna-down,cotton-grass, +cannie,cautious; prudent; shrewd; artful,also gentle; snug; pleasant +canny,cautious; prudent; shrewd; artful,also gentle; snug; pleasant +capawcity,capacity, +carefu',careful, +carin',caring, +carl,man; clown; boor in manners; churl, +carlin,old woman; shrew; hag, +carr,calves, +carritchis,catechism, +carryin',carrying, +ca's,calls, +cast,thrown off; discarded (clothes),also appearance; aspect; lose colour; fade +cast up,taunt; reproach, +castin',casting, +ca't,call it,also hammer it; impel it; hammer it +catchin',catching, +cat-loup,short distance; moment of time, +caud,cold (illness), +cauf,calf,also fool +cauld,cold, +'cause,because, +caution,security; guarantee, +caw,drive; impell; hammer, +cawed,driven; impelled; hammered, +cawpable,capable, +ceevil,civil, +ceevily,civilly, +'cep,except; but, +'cep',except; but, +chairge,charge, +chait,cheat, +change-hoose,alehouse; tavern, +chap,knock; hammer; strike; rap, +chappit,knocked; hammered; struck; rapped, +chaumer,chamber; room; bedroom, +cheap,thoroughly deserving, +cheemistry,chemistry, +cheerman,chairman, +cheese,choose, +cheir,chair, +cheirs,chairs, +chice,choice, +chiel',child; young person; fellow,term of fondness or intimacy +chield,child; young person; fellow,term of fondness or intimacy +chimley,chimney, +chimleys,chimneys, +chokin',choking, +chop,shop; store, +chop-door,shop door, +chowin',chewing, +chowse,choose, +chucken,chicken, +civileezed,civilized, +claes,clothes; dress, +claik,cackle of a hen,also idle or false report +claiks,cackles of a hen,also idle or false reports +claisp't,clasped, +clampit,made a noise of shoes when walking, +clanjamfrie,low worthless people, +clappit,patted; stroked; fondled,also pressed down +clash,blow; slap; mess,also gossip; tittle-tattle; tale-bearing +clave,cleaved, +claver,talk idly or foolishly; gossip; chat, +clean,altogether; entirely,also comely; shapely; empty; clean +cleanin',cleaning, +cleckit,hatched; born, +cleuks,claws; hands; paws, +clift,cleft, +clippin',clipping; shearing (sheep), +clood,cloud, +cloods,clouds, +cloot,clout; box (ear); beat; slap,also patch; mend +clortit,besmeared; dirtied, +close,narrow alley; blind alley,also enclosed land +cloured,struck; indented; beat, +cluds,clouds, +cluiks,hands; claws; paws; clutches, +clured,struck; indented; beaten, +cnottie,little lump,diminutive +coampliments,compliments, +coatie,children's coat; petticoat, +coats,petticoats, +coch,coach, +cockit,cocked, +cogues,small wooden vessel, +coguie,small wooden vessel,for holding milk (diminutive) +collieshangie,uproar; squabble; outbreak, +colliginer,college student,also college boy +colliginers,college students,college boys +comena,do not come, +comin,coming, +comin',coming, +compaingon,companion, +compairateevely,comparatively, +compleen,complain, +compleenin',complaining, +compoon,compound, +condeetion,condition, +conduc',conduct, +conductin',conducting, +confoon',confound, +conformin',conforming, +conneckit,connected, +consequens,consequence, +consolin',consoling, +consortin',consorting, +contack,contact, +conteenin',containing, +conteens,contains, +contred,contradicted; thwarted; crossed, +contrivin',contriving; designing, +convertin',converting, +convertit,converted, +coo,cow, +cooardly,cowardly, +cooncellor,councilor, +coonsel,counsel, +coont,count, +coontenance,countenance, +coonter,counter, +coontit,counted, +coonty,county, +coorse,coarse,also course +coortin',courting, +copyin',copying, +corp,body; corpse, +corpus,corpse, +corpuses,corpses, +correck,correct, +corrup',corrupt, +cot,cottage, +cottar,farm tenant; cottager, +couldna,could not, +coup,tilt; tumble; drink off, +couples,rafters, +couthy,kind; snug; comfortable; familiar, +coverin',covering, +cowerin',cowering, +cowmon,common, +crack,news; story; chat; gossip,also crack-brained +crackin',cracking; thundering, +cracklin',crackling, +craik,to croak; cry out harshly; murmur, +crap,top part,also crept +crater,creature, +craters,creatures, +cratur,creature, +cratur',creature, +craturs,creatures, +crawn,crowed, +crayter,creature, +creepie,(three legged) stool,a child's chair +crew,crowed, +creysh,grease, +cried,called; summoned, +crinkle-crankle,rustling and creaking, +crisping,crackling,sound as ground under foot in a slight frost +cronie,crony; friend; companion, +crookit,crooked; bent; twisted, +croon,crown, +crumblin',crumbling, +crunkle,crease; wrinkle; crumple, +cruppen,crept, +cryin',calling; summoning, +cud,could, +cudna,could not, +cummummerate,commemorate, +cupples,rafters, +curbstane,curbstone, +curfufflin',ruffling; disheveling, +curst,cursed, +cuttin',cutting, +cuttit,cut; harvested, +cutty-clay,short clay-pipe, +dacency,decency, +dacent,decent, +daft,mentally deranged; delirious; silly, +damnin',damning; condemning, +dam't,damned, +dang,knock; bang; drive,also damn +darg,day's work,work done in a day +dauner,stroll; saunter; amble, +daun'er,stroll; saunter; amble, +daur,dare; challenge, +daured,dared; challenged, +dauredna,did not dare; did not challenge, +daurna,dare not; do not dare, +daurs,dares; challenges, +daursay,dare say, +daw,dawn, +Dawgon,Dagon; Philistine god,see 1 Samuel 5:2-7 +dawtie,darling; pet,term of endearment +Dawvid,David, +daylicht,daylight, +dazin',dazing; bemuddling, +de,do, +dealin',dealing, +dearie,sweetheart; darling, +deave,deafen, +deceesion,decision, +dee,do,also die +deed,died,also deed; indeed +'deed,indeed, +deedie,water in a mill race, +deef,deaf, +deein',doing,also dying +deevil,devil, +deevilich,devilish,also extraordinary; supernatural +deevilry,devilry, +deevils,devils, +defamin',defaming, +defen',defend, +defyin',defying, +deid,dead,also death +deidly,deadly, +deif,deaf, +deil,devil,also not a +de'il,devil,also not a +Deil a bit!,Not at all! Not a bit!, +deils,devils, +dein',dying, +deith,death, +delicat,delicate, +denner,dinner, +denner-time,dinner time, +deowty,duty, +depairt,depart, +depen',depend, +depen'in',depending, +deuke,duck, +deycons,deacons, +dictionar',dictionary, +didna,did not, +differ,difference; dissent,also differ +dight,wipe; clean, +din,sound; din; report; fame, +ding,overcome; weary; vex,also drive; dash +dingin',overcoming; wearying; vexing,also driving; raining/snowing heavily +dinna,do not, +direc,direct, +direc',direct, +direckly,directly; immediately, +direcly,directly, +dirk,dirk; dagger, +dirl,thrill; tingle, +dirrty,dirty, +dis,does, +discipleen,discipline, +discoont,discount, +discoorse,discourse, +disinteresstitness,disinterestedness, +disjaskit,worn out; fatigued; exhausted,also dejected; depressed +disna,does not, +displeesur,displeasure, +displeesur',displeasure, +disposin',disposing, +disregaird,disregard, +disrespeck,disrespect, +dist,dust, +disturbin',disturbing, +disturbit,disturbed, +div,do, +divna,do not, +divot,thin flat piece of sod; turf, +dizzen,dozen, +dochter,daughter, +dochters,daughters, +dochtna,could not, +dockit,clipped, +doctorin',doctoring, +doesna,does not, +doin',doing, +doin's,doings, +doited,foolish; stupefied; crazy, +dominie,minister; schoolmaster,slightly contemptuous +dominies,ministers; schoolmasters,slightly contemptuous +doo,dove,darling--term of endearment +dooble,double; duplicate,also double dealing; devious +doobt,suspect; know; doubt,have an unpleasant conviction +doobtfu',doubtful, +doobtin',suspecting; knowing,also doubting +doobts,suspects; knows,also doubts +doom,doom; end; sentence, +dooms,extremely; exceedingly; very, +doom's,extremely; exceedingly; very; great, +doon,down, +dooncast,downcast, +doonfa',downfall, +doonhertit,downhearted, +doonricht,downright, +doonwith,downward, +door-cheek,door-post; threshold; doorway, +door-sill,threshold, +doot,doubt,also suspect; suspect +do't,do it, +dottle,unconsumed tobacco in a pipe, +douce,gentle; sensible; sober; prudent, +doun,down, +doup,bottom; backside; buttocks, +dour,hard; stern; stiff; sullen, +draan,drawn, +draigon,dragon; also boy's paper kite,reference to Revelation 12-13 +drap,drop; small quantity of, +drappit,dropped, +drappy,little drop; a little (liquor),diminutive +drap's bluid,related by blood, +drave,drove, +drawers,chest of drawers, +dreadfu',dreadful, +dreamin',dreaming, +drede,dread, +dreidfu',dreadful; dreadfully, +drift,snow driven by the wind, +drinkin',drinking, +drippin',dripping, +drivin',driving, +droon,drown, +drooned,drowned, +droonin',drowning, +droons,drowns, +droont,drowned, +drouth,thirst; dryness,also drought +drucken,drunken; tipsy, +drunken,drank; drunk, +dryin',drying, +dub,mud; small pool of water, +dubby,miry; muddy; dirty, +duds,clothes; rags; tatters, +dune,done, +dune't,done it, +dwin'lin',dwindling, +dyin',dying, +dyke,wall of stone or turf, +ear',early, +eatin',eating, +Edam,Adam, +edder,adder, +edication,education, +ee,eye, +eebrees,eyebrows, +eemage,image, +een,eyes, +eeran',errand, +eesicht,eyesight; by all appearances, +effecks,effects, +efter,after; afterwards, +efterhin,after; afterwards, +efternoon,afternoon, +efterwards,afterwards, +eicht,eight; eighth, +elbuck,elbow, +elec,elect,chosen by God for salvation (Calvinism) +elec',elect,chosen by God for salvation (Calvinism) +eleck,elect,chosen by God for salvation (Calvinism) +en',end, +endeevour,endeavour, +endeevours,endeavours, +eneuch,enough, +enlichten,enlighten, +enterest,interest, +entick,dam built across a river, +everlastin',everlasting, +exackly,exactly, +excep',except, +expec',expect, +expecket,expected, +expeckin',expecting, +expeckit,expected, +extrornar,extraordinary, +eyther,either, +Ezakiel,Ezekiel,book in the Old Testament +fa',fall; befall, +fac,fact; truth; reality, +fac',fact; truth; reality, +fa'en,fallen, +faimily,family, +fa'in',falling, +faintin',fainting, +Faith!,Indeed!; Truly!,exclamation +fallow,fellow; chap, +fallows,fellows; chaps, +fand,found, +fareweel,farewell, +farmin',farming, +farrer,farther, +fa's,falls, +fash,trouble; inconvenience; vex, +fashous,troublesome; vexing, +faul'd,folded, +faun',found, +faund,found, +fause,false, +faushion,fashion, +fau't,fault; blame, +fauts,faults, +fau'ts,faults, +fau't's,fault is, +feared,afraid; frightened; scared, +fearfu',fearful; easily frightened, +fearsome,terrifying; fearful; awful, +fecht,fight; struggle, +fechtin',fighting; struggling, +feckless,weak; feeble; incapable, +feelin',feeling, +feelin's,feelings, +fegs!,truly!; really!; goodness!; faith!,mild oath; exclamation of surprise +fell,very; potent; keen; harsh; sharp,intensifies; also turf; lot; destiny +feow,few, +ferm,farm, +fess,fetch; bring, +fest,fast, +fin,find,also feel +fin',find,also feel +fin'in',finding; feeling, +firs,first, +fit,foot; base,also fit; capable; able +fit-haud,foothold, +fiver,fever, +flamin',flaming, +flang,kicked; threw, +flannin,flannel, +flauchterin',fluttering, +flaw,flew, +flee,fly; flee,also fly (the insect) +fleechin',wheedling; flattering; fawning, +fleein',flying; fleeing, +fleg,blow; kick; stroke,also scare; frighten +fleggin',blowing; kicking; stroking,also scaring; frightening +fleyt,terrified; frightened, +fling,kick; throw, +fling't,kick it; throw it, +flit,shift; remove; depart, +floatin',floating, +flooer,flower, +flooers,flowers, +floories,little flowers,diminutive +flure,floor, +flutterin',fluttering, +followin',following, +forbears,ancestors; forefathers, +forby,as well; as well as; besides,also over and above +forbye,as well; as well as; besides,also over and above +forenichts,fore-nights; early evenings,also late afternoons +foreordeen't,foreordained, +foret,forward, +forfochten,worn out; exhausted, +forgettin',forgetting, +forgie,forgive, +for's,for his, +for't,for it, +fortnicht,fortnight; two weeks, +fother,fodder; provision, +foughten,fought, +foul-fa',devil take; evil befall, +foul-mou'd,foul-mouthed, +fourt,fourth, +fower,four, +fowk,folk, +fowks,folks, +fra,from, +frae,from, +frae't,from it, +free,frank; outspoken; genial; familiar, +freely,quite; very; thoroughly, +frein',friend, +frichtit,frightened; scared away, +frien',friend, +frien's,friends, +fu',full; very; much, +fule,fool, +fules,fools, +fumblin',fumbling, +fun',found, +fundation,foundation, +fund't,founded, +furth,forth, +fushionless,pithless; tasteless; feeble, +fusionless,pithless; tasteless; feeble, +futteret,weasel,term of contempt +fykes,trifles; troubles; cares; whims, +gad,iron bar, +gae,gave,also go +ga'e,gave, +gaed,went, +gaein,going, +gaein',going, +gaeins,goings, +gairden,garden, +gait,way; fashion,also route; street +gaither,gather, +gaits,ways,also routes; streets +gane,gone, +gane hame,gone home,also passed away; died +gang,go; goes; depart; walk, +gang yer wa's,go on, +gangs,goes; walks, +gar,cause; make; compel, +garred,made; caused; compelled, +garrin',making; causing; compelling, +gars,makes; causes; compels, +gart,made; caused; compelled, +gaun,going, +gear,possessions; money; property,also livestock +geid,gave, +gentlefowk,gentlefolk; gentry, +gerss,grass, +gether,gather, +gethered,gathered, +getna,do not get, +gettin',getting, +gey,fairly; considerably,also considerable +gey and,somewhat; rather, +ghaist,ghost; soul; spirit, +ghaistly,ghostly, +gie,give, +gie a lift,give a helping hand, +gied,gave, +giein,giving, +giein',giving, +gien,if; as if; then; whether,also given +gi'en,given, +gien't,if it,also given it +gies,gives, +gie's,gives; give us; give his, +gie't,give it, +gif,if; whether, +gimp,slender; neat, +gin,if; as if; then; whether, +gin't,if it, +girnel,granary; meal-chest, +girnel-kist,meal-chest, +girnell,granary; meal-chest, +girnin',grimacing; snarling, +girns,grimaces; snarls; twists the features, +girrl,girl, +girse,grass, +glaid,glad, +glaidle,gladly, +glaidness,gladness, +glaiss,glass, +gleanins,gleanings, +gleg,quick; lively; smart; quick-witted, +gleg ee,quick or sharp eye (to notice things), +gleg-eed,quick-eyed; sharp eyed, +gleg-ee'd,quick-eyed; sharp eyed, +glimmerin',glimmering, +glimmert,glimmered, +glimp,glimpse; glance,also the least degree +glimp',glimpse; glance,also the least degree +glinted,twinkled; glittered, +glintin',twinkling; glittering, +gloamin,twilight; dusk, +gloamin',twilight; dusk, +glorifeed,glorified, +glowered,stared; gazed; scowled, +glowerin',staring; gazing; scowling, +glowert,stared; gazed; scowled, +God-fearin',God-fearing, +gomeril,fool; blockhead, +goo,taste; odour; smell, +goody,old woman,also child's name for a sweet +goon,gown, +gowd,gold, +gowden,golden, +gowk,cuckoo; fool; blockhead, +grainie,little particle; little bit,diminutive +grainy,little particle; little bit, +graip,three-pronged fork,used in farming +graivitation,gravitation, +gran',grand; capital; first-rate, +gran'-dochter,grand-daughter, +grandur,grandeur, +gran'mither,grandmother, +grat,cried; wept, +gravestanes,gravestones; tombstones; headstones, +greet,cry; weep, +greetin,crying; weeping, +greetin',crying; weeping, +greit,cry; weep, +greitin,crying; weeping, +greitin',crying; weeping, +grin',grind, +grip,grasp; understand,also hold +grips,grasps; understands,seizures; colic +grit,great; big, +grosert,gooseberry, +growin,growing, +growin',growing, +growlin',growling, +grue,feeling of horror; tremor,also tremble +grummle,grumble, +grun',ground, +gruntit,grunted,also grumbled; complained +grutten,cried; wept, +guairdian,guardian, +guddle,mangle, +guddlet,mangled, +gude,good,also God +gude wife,mistress of the house; wife,also farmer's wife +gudewife,mistress of the house; wife,also farmer's wife +gueed,good,also God +guid,good,also God +guide,treat; handle; look after; manage; keep, +guidit,treated; handled; managed, +guidman,master; husband; head of household,also farmer +guidwife,mistress of the house; wife,also farmer's wife +guiss,guess, +guissin',guessing, +gumption,common-sense; shrewdness, +gurglin',gurgling, +gutter-partans,gutter crab, +ha',have,also hall; house +hadna,had not, +hae,have; has,also here; understand +haein,having, +haein',having, +haeing,having, +haena,have not; do not have, +haena',have not; do not have, +hae't,have it, +haill,whole, +hained,saved; hoard; shield, +hairm,harm, +Hairries,Harrys, +hairst,harvest, +hairst-play,school holidays during harvest, +Haith!,Faith!,exclamation of surprise +half-a-croon,half-crown; half a crown,=2 shillings and 6 pence +half-gaits,half-way, +half-hoor,half-hour, +hame,home, +han',hand, +handit,handed, +han'fu',handful, +hangin',hanging, +hangt,hanged, +han'le,handle, +han's,hands, +hantel,much; large quantity; far, +hantle,much; large quantity; far, +happent,happened, +happin',hopping, +h'ard,heard, +hardent,hardened, +hard-hertit,hard-hearted, +hards,what of boiled food,adheres to the pot +hard-workin',hard-working, +harlin',rough-casting a wall,with a mixture of mortar and gravel +hasna,does not have; has not; hasn't, +haud,hold; keep, +hauden,held; kept, +haudin',holding; keeping, +hauds,holds; keeps, +hause,neck; throat, +haven,heaven, +haverin',talking incoherently; babbling, +havers,nonsense; foolish talk; babble, +haythen,heathen, +he that will to Coupar maun to Coupar,a wilful man must have his way, +heap,very much,also heap +hearin',hearing, +heark,listen, +hearken,hearken; hear; listen, +hearkened,hearkened; heard; listened, +hearkenin',hearkening; listening, +hearkent,hearkened; heard; listened, +hearthstane,hearthstone, +Hech!,Oh! strange!,a sighing exclamation +heedlong,headlong, +heedna,heed not; do not heed, +heep,very much,also heap +heepocreet,hypocrite, +heid,head; heading, +heidit,headed, +heid-quarters,headquarters, +heids,heads; headings, +helpin',helping, +her lane,on her own; her alone, +hermaphrodeet,hermaphrodite, +herrin,herring, +herrin',herring, +hersel,herself, +hersel',herself, +hersel's,herself has; herself is, +hert,heart, +herts,hearts, +hert-sair,heart sore, +herty,heartily; hearty, +het,hot; burning, +heumble,humble, +heumbly,humbly, +hidin',hiding,also beating; thrashing +hidin'-place,hidding place, +Hielanman,Highland man, +hillo,,a call to attract attention +him lane,on his own; him alone, +himsel,himself, +himsel',himself, +hinder,hinder; hind; latter, +hing,hang, +hingin',hanging, +hinner,hinder; hind; latter, +hinner en',end; end of life, +hinner-en',end; end of life, +hinnie,honey, +hirin',hiring, +hirple,limp; hobble, +hirpling,limping; hobbling, +hit,it,emphatic +hizzie,hussy; silly girl, +hizzies,hussies; silly girls, +hogsheid,hogshead; large barrel or cask, +hoo,how, +hooever,however, +hooly,slowly; cautiously; gently,also 'take your time' +hooly and fairly,slowly and gently, +hoor,hour, +hoors,hours, +hoo's,how is, +hoose,house; home, +hoose-gear,household goods, +hooses,houses; homes, +hoose-taps,house-tops, +hoosie,little house,diminutive +hoot,pshaw,exclamation of doubt or contempt +hoot toot,tut!,exclamation of annoyance +hoots,pshaw,exclamation of doubt or contempt +horn,comb,also horn +Horney,the devil, +horsie,little horse,diminutive +host,cough, +hough,man's leg or thigh, +houp,hope, +houpes,hopes, +houpfu',hopeful, +houps,hopes, +how,hollow; valley; glen, +howdie,midwife, +howk,dig; excavate, +howkin',digging; excavating, +hoydenish,inelegantly,also inelegant; homely +hungert,starved, +hunner,hundred, +hurtit,hurt, +huz,us,emphatic +i',in; into, +I doobt,I know; I suspect, +I doot,I know; I suspect, +I doubt,I know; I suspect, +I s' awa.,I'm off.; I'd better go., +I wad,I know; I assure (you), +idleset,idleness; frivolous amusement,also laziness +ile,oil, +ilka,every; each,also common; ordinary +ill,bad; evil; hard; harsh; badly,also misfortune; harm +'ill,will, +ill-aff,poor; miserable; badly off, +ill-contrived,tricky; mischievous,also badly behaved; ill-tempered +ill-designed,evilly disposed, +ill-faured,unbecoming; ill-mannered; clumsy,also unpleasant; unsavoury +ill-guide,mismanage; ill-treat, +ill-guideship,mismanagement; ill-treatment, +ill-nater'd,ill-natured, +ill-natert,ill-natured, +ill-pleased,not pleased; unhappy, +ill-tongued,foul-tongued; abusive, +'im,him, +imaigin',imagine, +imaigine,imagine, +impidence,impudence, +impident,impudent, +impruvment,improvement, +incomins,comings in, +incontinent,forthwith; immediately, +indwellin',indwelling, +ingle-neuk,chimney-corner or recess; fireside, +in's,in his, +insicht,insight, +instruc',instruct, +instruck,instruct, +in't,in it, +intendit,intended +, +interrup',interrupt, +intil,into; in; within, +intil's,into his; into us, +intil't,into it, +inveesible,invisible, +Is',I should; I shall, +isna,is not; is no, +isna't,is it not, +is't,is it, +ither,other; another; further,also else; otherwise +ithers,others, +itsel,itself, +itsel',itself, +itsel's,itself is, +jabberin',chattering; idle talking, +jabble,ripple; small broken waves, +jaud,lass; girl; worthless woman,old worn-out horse +jawd,lass; girl; worthless woman,old worn-out horse +jawds,lasses; girls; worthless women,old worn-out horses +jawin',talking; chattering, +jaws,billows; splashes; surges; waves, +Jeames,James, +jeedge,judge, +jeedgement,judgement, +jeedgment,judgement, +jeerin',mocking, +jeest,jest; joke, +jeist,jest, +jeistin',jesting, +jiffie,moment, +jine,join, +jined,joined, +jist,just, +jokin',joking, +jummlin',jumbling, +jumps,tallies; coincides,also eagerly accepts +kail,colewort,also food; dinner +keekin',looking; peeping; prying, +keekit,looked; peeped; spied, +keepin',keeping, +keepit,kept, +ken,know; be acquainted with; recognise, +kenna,do not know, +kenned,known; knew, +kennin,knowing, +kennin',knowing, +kens,knows, +kensna,does not know, +kent,known; knew, +ken't,know it, +kentna,did not know, +kettlefu',kettleful, +key-stane,key-stone, +killin',killing, +killoguin,plotting; conspiring, +killt,killed, +kin',kind; nature; sort; agreeable,also somewhat; in some degree +kin'-herted,kind-hearted, +kin'-hertit,kind-hearted, +kin'list,kindliest, +kin'ness,kindness, +kirk,church, +kirk-buiks,kirk-session's records or minute-books, +kirkies,little churches,diminutive +kirkyard,churchyard, +kirk-yard,churchyard, +kirsten,christen, +kist,chest; coffer; box; chest of drawers, +kitchie,kitchen,also addition or relish to plain fare +kittle,ticklish, +kittlin',kitten, +kye,cattle; cows, +laad,lad; boy,term of commendation or reverence +laads,lads; boys,term of commendation or reverence +labourin',labouring, +laddie,boy,term of affection +laddies,boys,term of affection +lade,load, +ladles,small wooden box with a long handle,for collecting offerings in church +laft,loft, +laich,low; inferior, +lainch,launch, +laip,leap, +laird,landed proprietor; squire; lord, +laist,last, +Laitin,Latin, +lamentin',lamenting, +lammie,little lamb,term of endearment +lammies,little lambs,term of endearment +lan',land; country; ground, +lane,lone; alone; lonely; solitary, +lanes,lone; alone, +lanesome,lonesome, +lang,long; big; large; many,also slow; tedious +langer,longer, +langheided,shrewd; far-seeing; intelligent, +lang-leggit,long legged, +lang's,long as, +lang-sichtit,far-sighted, +langsome,slow; tedious; weary, +lap,leaped, +lass,girl; young woman,term of address +lass-bairns,female children; girl children, +lasses,girls; young women, +lassie,girl,term of endearment +lassies,girls,term of endearment +lat,let; allow, +lat ower,swallow, +lat's,let's; let us; let his, +lattin,letting; allowing, +lattin',letting; allowing, +lauch,laugh, +lauchen,laughed, +lauchin,laughing, +lauchin',laughing, +lauchs,laughs, +lauchter,laughter, +lave,rest; remainder; others,also leave +laverock,lark (type of bird), +lay awa',to lay eggs in out-of-the-way places,used of hens +layin',laying, +lay't,lay it, +lea',leave, +leal,loyal; faithful; sincere; true, +learnin',learning,also teaching +learnt,learned,also taught +leddies,ladies, +leddy,lady,also boy; lad; laddy +lee,pasture; fallow ground,also shelter from wind or rain; lie +leeberties,liberties, +leeberty,liberty, +leebrarian,librarian, +leebrary,library, +leein',lying; telling lies, +lee-lang,whole, +leemited,limited, +lees,lies, +leevin',living; living being, +leisur',leisure, +leme,gleam, +lemin',blazing; gleaming; flashing, +len',lend; give; grant,also loan +lenth,length, +len'th,length, +len'ths,lengths, +lere,lore, +leuch,laughed, +leuk,look; watch; appearance, +leukin,looking; watching, +licht,light, +lichter,lighter, +licht-heidit,light-headed, +lichtlied,made light of; disparaged,also despised; scorned +lichtnin',lightning, +lichts,lights, +lick,thrash; punish; whip,also small quantity +licked,thrashed; punished; whipped, +lickin',thrashing; punishment; whipping, +licking,thrashing; punishment; whipping, +lickins,thrashings; punishments; whippings, +lickit,thrashed; punished; whipped,also licked +licks,thrashes; punishments; whips, +lift,load; boost; lift; helping hand,also sky; heavens +liftin',lifting, +liftit,lifted, +liker,more like; better suited, +likest,most like, +likin',liking, +likit,liked, +likly,likely, +limmer,rascal; rogue,also loose woman; prostitute +links,stretch of sandy grass-covered ground,near the seashore +lintie,linnet; type of finch (bird), +lippen,trust; depend on,also look after +lippent,trusted; depended on,also looked after +litster,dyer, +livin',living, +'ll,will, +loadent,loaded, +lockit,locked, +lo'e,love, +lo'ed,loved, +lo'ein',loving, +lo'es,loves, +longin',longing, +lood,loud, +loof,palm of the hand,also hoof +lookin',looking, +loon,rascal; rogue; ragamuffin,also boy; lad +loons,rascals; rogues; ragamuffins,also boys; lads +loot,let; allowed; permitted, +looten,let; allowed, +lore,talk; conversation, +Losh!,corrupt form of 'Lord',exclamation of surprise or wonder +losin',losing, +lot,let, +loun,rascal; rogue; ragamuffin,also boy; lad +loup,leap; jump; spring, +loupin',leaping; jumping; springing, +lousened,loosened, +low,flame, +lowerin',stooping, +lowin',flaming, +lown,calm; serene; sheltered, +lowne,calm; serene; sheltered, +lowse,loose; free,also dishonest; immoral +luckie,old woman, +lucky,old woman, +lug,ear; fin (fish); handle,also shallow wooden dish +lugs,ears, +luik,look, +luik'd,looked, +luikin,looking, +luikin',looking, +luikit,looked, +luiks,looks, +luik't,looked, +lum,chimney, +lyin',lying, +'m,him, +magistrand,student about to become M.A.,at Aberdeen University +magistrands,students about to become M.A.,at Aberdeen University +mainner,manner, +mainners,manners, +mair,more; greater, +mairgin,margin, +mairtyrs,martyrs, +maist,most; almost, +'maist,almost, +maister,master; mister,also schoolmaster +maistly,mostly; most of all, +maitter,matter, +maitters,matters, +mak,make; do, +mak',make; do, +makin',making; doing, +maks,makes; does, +mak's,makes; does, +mappy,bunny; rabbit, +mathemawtics,mathematics, +mathewmawtics,mathematics, +maukin,hare,also a reference to a poem by Burns +maun,must; have to; has to, +maunna,must not; may not, +mayhap,perhaps; maybe, +mayna,may not, +meal-mull,meal mill, +mealy-mou'd,mealy-mouthed, +meanin',meaning, +meddlet,meddled, +meeserable,miserable, +meetin,meeting, +meetin',meeting, +mem,Ma'am; Miss; Madam, +men',mend, +mendit,mended; healed, +men'in',mending; healing, +menseless,ill-bred; boorish; unmannerly, +men't,mended, +meowlin,mewing, +merchan's,merchants; shopkeepers, +mercifu',merciful; favourable, +merryin',marrying; getting married, +metapheesical,metaphysical, +micht,might, +michtna,might not, +michty,mighty; God, +midden,dunghill; manure pile, +middlin',tolerable; mediocre; fairly well, +midnicht,midnight, +mids,midst; middle, +mids',midst; middle, +millstane,millstone, +min',mind; recollection,also recollect; remember; remind +mind,mind; recollection,also recollect; remember; remind +min'd,minded; recollected; remembered,also reminded +mindit,minded; recollected; remembered,also reminded +minds,reminds, +ministerin',ministering, +minnie,mother; mommy,pet name +minnisters,ministers, +min's,minds; reminds; recollects, +mint,insinuate; hint; feign,also aim at; attempt +mintin',insinuating; hinting; feigning,also aiming at; attempting +mirk,darkness; gloom; night, +misbelief,unbelief, +misca'd,spoke evil of; scolded; called names,also misnamed +misca's,speaks evil of; scolds; calls names, +mischeef,mischief; injury; harm, +misdoobt,doubt; disbelieve; suspect, +misgreein',growing stunted or crooked, +misgrugled,disfigured; marred; handled roughly, +misguided,wasted; mismanaged; ill-used, +misguidit,wasted; mismanaged; ill-used, +missionar,missionary, +missionars,missionaries, +mista'en,mistaken, +mista'en',mistaken, +mistak,mistake, +mistak',mistake, +mistakin',mistaking, +mistak's,mistake as, +mither,mother, +mithers,mothers, +mixter,mixture, +mock,fun; jest; sham; swindle, +Mononday,Monday, +mony,many, +mooly,earthy; earth-stained, +moonlicht,moonlight, +moose,mouse, +mornin',morning, +mou,mouth, +mou',mouth, +moudiwarp,mole, +moufu',mouthful, +mou'fu',mouthful, +moul',mould; loose earth; top soil, +mouls,moulds; soils; graves, +mous,mouths, +mou's,mouths, +mowse,joke; jest, +'msel',himself, +muck,wet dung; mud; mire, +muckle,huge; enormous; big; great; much, +mull,snuff-box,also mill +mune,moon, +munelicht,moonlight, +munsie,monsieur; contemptible figure,also spectacle through ill-treatment +murlocks,crumbs; fragments, +murrin',purring; murmuring, +mutch,woman's cap with protruding frill,worn under the bonnet +mutched,wearing a mutch or woman's cap, +mutches,woman's caps with protruding frill,worn under the bonnet +mutterin',muttering, +muv,move; affect, +My certy!,Take my word for it!, +my lane,on my own, +mysel,myself, +mysel',myself, +na,no; none; not; by no means,an exclamation of surprise +nae,no; none; not, +naebody,nobody; no one, +naething,nothing, +nainsel',one's own self, +naisty,nasty, +naiteral,natural, +nane,none, +nate,neat, +nater,nature, +nateral,natural, +natur,nature, +natur',nature, +naturs,natures, +nay-say,to deny; refuse; contradict, +nearhan',nearly; almost; near by, +near-han',nearly; almost; near by, +neb,tip; point; nib; beak; nose, +necessar',necessary, +neebor,neighbour, +neebors,neighbours, +needfu',needful; necessary; needy, +needin',needing, +needna,do not need; need not, +neep,turnip, +neeps,turnips, +neglec,neglect, +neglec',neglect, +negleck,neglect, +neip,turnip, +neist,next; nearest, +neuk,nook; recess; interior angle,also corner +neyther,neither, +nib,point; tip; human nose, +nicher,snigger, +nicherin',sniggering, +nicht,night; evening, +nichts,nights, +nickerin',neighing; whinnying; sniggering, +nickum,mischievous and tricky boy, +nigh-han',nearly, +niz,nose, +no,not, +no mowse,not to be meddled with, +noathing,nothing, +noo,now, +noo's,now is, +nor,than; although; if,also nor +norsin',nursing, +nott,(bank) note, +notwithstandin',notwithstanding, +nowther,neither, +nummer,number, +o',of; on, +objec',object, +objecs,objects, +obleeged,obliged, +Od,disguised form of 'God',mince oath +odds,consequence; change, +offendin',offending, +ohn,without; un-,uses past participle not present progressive +'oman,woman, +ony,any, +ony gait,anyway, +onybody,anybody; anyone, +onygait,anyway, +onyhoo,anyhow, +onything,anything, +ook,week, +oolets,owls, +oor,our, +oors,ours, +oorsels,ourselves, +oot,out, +ootgang,going out; exit, +ootgoins,goings out, +ootlandish,outlandish, +ootlay,outlay, +ootluik,outlook, +ootricht,outright, +oots,outs, +ootside,outside, +opeenion,opinion, +open'd,opened, +openin',opening, +opingon,opinion, +or,before; ere; until; by,also or +orderin',ordering, +ordinar,ordinary; usual; natural,also custom; habit +ordinar',ordinary; usual; natural,also custom; habit +oreeginal,original, +ou,oh, +oucht,anything; all,also ought +oughtna,ought not, +ow,oh,exclamation of surprise +ower,over; upon; too, +owercome,overcome; recover, +owerheard,overheard, +owerluik,overlook, +ower-turn,overturn, +Paceefic,Pacific (Ocean), +pailace,palace, +pairis,parrish, +pairt,part, +pairtin',parting, +pairtit,parted, +pairts,parts, +pan,skull; head, +pandies,strokes on the palm with a cane,form of punishment +pandy,stroke on the palm with a cane,form of punishment +pang,pain; ache,also pack to the utmost; cram +Paradees,Paradise, +parritch,oatmeal porridge, +pat,put; made, +patchin',patching, +pauky,shrewd; cunning; knowing; artful, +Pawtmos,Patmos, +payin',paying, +peat-moss,place where peats are dug, +peddlin',peddling, +peety,pity, +peggin',hammering; beating, +peowpils,pupils, +perfec,perfect, +perishin',perishing, +perswaud,persuade, +Pheelip,Philip, +pheesiology,physiology, +Phillisteens,Philistines, +philoasophy,philosophy, +picket,strike on the knuckles,also choice; dressed; +pickit,picked, +piece,slice of bread; lunch,also piece (of oat-cake) +pig,stone bottle, +pikin',picking; gathering; pilfering, +pint,point, +pints,points, +pirn,reel; bobbin,on which thread is wound +pit,put; make,also pit +pitawta,potato, +pitawtas,potatoes, +pits,puts; makes,also pits +pitten,put; made, +pittin,putting; making, +pittin',putting; making, +pityin',pitying, +plack,the smallest coin,worth 1/3 of a penny +plaguesome,annoying; troublesome, +plaguit,plagued; troubled, +plaid,plaid used as a blanket, +plantin',plantation, +play,school holidays during harvest,see hairst-play; also holiday; game +playin',playing, +pleesant,pleasant, +pleesur,pleasure, +pleesur',pleasure, +pleuch,plough, +pliskie,trick; prank; practical joke, +plooed,ploughed, +plooin',ploughing, +ploy,amusement; sport; escapade, +ploys,amusements; sports; escapades, +pluckit,plucked, +plunky,preparation of treacle and flour, +pock,smallpox, +pooch,pocket; pouch, +pooches,pockets, +pooer,power, +poor,pour,also poor +pose,hoard; secret store; savings, +positeevely,positively, +potty,putty, +poun',pound (sterling), +pour,steady flow; heavy shower, +powther,powder, +praiched,preached, +Praise be thankit!,,exclamation of thanks to God +praisin',praising, +prankin',prancing, +prayin',praying, +preachin',preaching, +preceese,precise, +precenter,one who leads the singing, +precentor,one who leads the singing, +pree,taste; try; prove; experience, +preeviledges,privileges, +preevileege,privilege, +prencipal,principal; capital sum (of a loan), +prenciple,principle, +prenciples,principles, +prent,print, +preparet,prepared, +press,wall-cupboard with shelves, +preten',pretend, +pretendit,pretended, +pretennin',pretending, +prin,pin, +proaper,proper, +proceedin',proceeding, +proceedins,proceedings, +procleemed,proclaimed, +prood,proud, +prophecee,prophecy, +prophecees,prophecies, +propheseein',prophesying, +prospec',prospect, +pruv,prove, +pu',pull, +public,public house; pub, +public-hoose,public house; pub, +pu'd,pulled, +pu'ed,pulled, +puir,poor, +pump,beer-shop,also pump +pun',pound (sterling), +pyke,pick; pluck,also steal; pilfer +quaiet,quiet, +quaiet sough,quiet tongue, +quaieter,quieter, +quaietest,quietest, +quaietit,quieted, +quaietly,quietly, +quaietness,quietness, +quawlifee,qualify, +quean,queen; young girl; hussy, +queston,question,also sum +questons,questions,also sums +quhilk,which; who, +quittance,quittance; riddance, +quo',swore; said; quoth, +rackit,wrenched; strained, +rade,rode, +rael,real, +railly,really, +raither,rather, +rale,real; true; very, +rampaugin',rampaging, +rampin',stamping about in fury, +rarely,excellently, +rase,rose, +rashes,rushes, +rave,tore, +rax,extend; overdo it; stretch,also hand; pass; reach +readin',reading, +reamy,creamy, +recogneeze,recognize, +redd,set in order; tidy; clean; comb, +reek,smoke; mist; fog; smell, +reeks,billows of smoke, +reelin',reeling, +reestlin',rustling, +reet,root, +referrin',referring, +regaird,regard, +regairdet,regarded, +regairds,regards, +reglar,regular, +reid,red, +reid-het,red hot, +reid-wud,fiercely or wildly angry, +remarkin',remarking, +remeid,remedy; cure; redress, +remembert,remembered, +remin',remind, +remin't,reminded, +rendert,rendered, +repentin',repenting, +repentit,repented, +reposin',reposing, +respec,respect, +respec',respect, +respeck,respect; consider worthy, +restin',resting, +rheumateese,rheumatism, +rheumateeze,rheumatism, +rheumatize,rheumatism, +richt,right; correct,also mend +richteous,righteous, +richteousness,righteousness, +richtful,rightful, +richtly,rightly; certainly; positively, +richts,rights, +richtyisness,righteousness, +riddlet,riddled, +ridickleous,ridiculous, +riggin,ridge; roof, +riggin',ridge; roof, +riggin-stane,stone forming part of the ridge,of a roof +riggin-tree,rooftree; ridge-beam of the house, +rigwiddie,stubborn in disposition, +rin,run, +ringin',ringing, +rinnin',running, +rins,runs, +rintheroot,gadabout; homeless vagrant; tramp, +ripe,search thoroughly,also clear an obstruction +risin',rising, +rist,rest, +rive,rent; tear; tug; wrench,also; fight +rivin',renting; tearing; tugging; wrenching,also riven; torn; burst; fighting +rizzon,reason, +rizzonable,reasonable, +road-metal,broken stones used for road repair, +roarin',roaring, +roddin,mountain-ash (tree), +roon,around; round, +roon',around; round, +roost,rust, +roostit,rusted, +rory-bories,aurora borealis, +rosten,roasting, +rottan-holes,rat holes, +rottans,rats, +rottit,rotted, +rouch,rough, +roun,around; round,also whisper +roun',around; round, +roup,sale by auction, +roupin',selling by auction, +roupit,sold at auction, +rousin',rousing, +row,roll; wrap up; wind, +rowin',rolling; wrapping up; winding, +royt,frolicsome; unruly; wild; riotous, +ruggin',pulling forcibly; tugging; tearing, +rulin',ruling, +'s,us; his; as; is,also has +s',shall, +sae,so; as, +saft,muddy; soft; silly; foolish, +safter,muddier; softer; sillier, +saft-hertit,soft-hearted, +saicrifeesed,sacrificed, +saiddle,saddle, +sailin',sailing, +sair,sore; sorely; sad; hard; very; greatly,also serve; satisfy +sair heid,headache, +saired,served, +sairer,harder; sadder; sorer, +sairest,sorest; hardest; saddest, +saitisfeed,satisfied, +saiven,seven, +saivenpence,sevenpence, +saivent,seventh, +sall,shall, +san',sand, +sanct,saint, +sancts,saints, +sang,song, +sang-buik,songbook, +sangs,songs, +sanna,shall not, +sark,shirt, +sarks,shirts, +sattle,settle, +sattled,settled, +saut,salt, +savin',saving,also except +savours,unctions, +saw,sow, +Sawbath,Sabbath; Sunday, +saws,sows, +Sawtan,Satan, +Sawton,Satan, +sax,six, +saxpence,sixpence, +saxpences,sixpences, +saxpenny,sixpence, +sayin',saying, +say't,say it, +scart,scratch; strike a match; scrape, +scathe,injury; loss; damage, +scatterin',scattering, +scaur,cliff; bare place on the side of a hill, +schochlin',waddling; mean, +schoolin',schooling; education, +schuil,school, +schule,school, +scomfish,suffocate; smother; choke, +scoonrel,scoundrel, +scraich,shriek; scream; bird's shrill cry, +screed,recite rapidly; talk tediously; reel off,also scraping sound; long thin strip +screeds,recites rapidly; talks tediously,also scraping sounds; long thin strips +screwin',screwing; scraping, +scrimpit,stunted, +Scripter,Scripture, +Scriptur,Scripture, +Scriptur',Scripture, +scunners,disgusts, +scushlin,slide; shuffle in walking, +scushlin',sliding; shuffling in walking, +seck,sack, +seein',seeing, +seekin',seeking, +see't,see it, +sel',self, +semi,second year's university student,especially at Aberdeen University +sen',send, +senawtus,senatus, +servan',servant, +servan's,servants, +servin',serving, +set,set out; start off; become,also inclined; disposed +Setterday,Saturday, +settin',setting, +Shackspere,Shakespeare, +shaidow,shadow, +shaidows,shadows, +shairper,sharper, +shak',shake, +shanna,shall not, +shargar,thin stunted person; scrag, +shaw,show; reveal,also grove +sheave,slice, +sheued,scared away; frightened away, +shillin',shilling, +shillins,shillings, +shimmerin',shimmering, +shinin',shining, +shochlin',waddling; in-kneed, +shoonless,shoeless; without shoes, +shoothers,shoulders, +shore,reaped; cut, +short-sichtit,near-sighted, +shouther,shoulder, +shouthers,shoulders, +shuits,suits, +shune,shoes, +sib,relation; akin; closely related, +sic,such; so; similar, +sicht,sight, +sichtit,sighted, +sichts,sights, +sicker,secure; safe; firm; sure, +sickerer,more secure; more sure, +signin',signing, +siller,silver; money; wealth, +sin,since; ago; since then,also sin; sun +sin',since; ago; since then, +singin',singing, +sipple,tipple, +sittin',sitting, +sizzon,season, +skatcher,skate, +sleek,smooth, +sleepin',sleeping, +sleepit,slept, +slidin',sliding, +slippit,slipped, +slocken,slake; drench; quench, +sloomin',slinking; sneaking, +slow-fittit,slow footed, +sma',small; little; slight; narrow; young, +smatchit,pert impudent child, +smellin',smelling, +smiddy,blacksmith's workshop, +smilet,smiled, +smilin',smiling, +smokin',smoking; smouldering, +smokit,smoked, +smoored,smothered; suffocated; stifled, +smore,smother; suffocate; stifle, +smo'red,smothered; suffocated; stifled, +snaw,snow, +sneeshin,snuff, +sneeshin',snuff, +snod,smooth; neat; trim; tidy; snug, +snodded,smoothed; trimmed; tidied, +snoot,snout; nose; face, +snubbert,nose; snout,contemptuous +sock,ploughshare, +socks,ploughshares, +sod,sad, +some,somewhat; rather; quite; very,also some +somehoo,somehow, +somewhaur,somewhere, +sonsy,well conditioned; good-tempered, +soo,ache; throb,also sow +sook,sip; drink; suck, +sooks,sucks, +soord,sword, +souffin',whistling in a low tone; humming, +sough,sigh; sound of wind; deep breath, +soun',sound, +soun'est,soundest, +sounies,little sounds,diminutive +sowl,soul, +spait,spate; flood, +spak,spoke, +spak',spoke, +spale,woodchip; woodshaving, +spales,woodchips; woodshavings, +spanged,leaped; bounded; sprung; spanned, +sparin',sparing, +spate,spate; flood, +speakin',speaking, +spean,wean, +speerit,spirit, +speerits,spirits, +speeritual,spiritual, +speik,speak, +speiken,speaking, +speikin',speaking, +speir,ask; enquire; question, +speired,asked; enquired; questioned, +speirin',asking; enquiring; questioning, +speirt,asked; enquired; questioned, +spells,woodchips; woodshavings, +spen'in',spending, +speyk,speak, +speyks,speaks, +spidder,spider, +spied,to prophesy?,possible past participle of spae +spier,ask; enquire; question, +spiered,asked; enquired; questioned, +spiers,asks; enquires; questions, +spinnin',spinning, +spite,provocation; disappointment, +spither,spider, +squaure,square, +stack,stuck, +staiggerin',staggering, +stammachfu',stomachful, +stammack,stomach, +stan',stand; stop, +stane,stone,also measure of weight; 1 stone = 14 pounds +stanes,stones, +stan'in,standing, +stan'in',standing, +stank,ditch; moat; pond, +stannin',standing, +stan's,stands, +starnie,very small quantity, +starns,stars, +startit,started, +statin',stating, +stave,short song, +stealin',stealing, +steekin',shutting; closing; clenching, +steekit,shut; closed; clenched, +steid,stayed, +steikit,shut; closed; clenched; stopped, +stent,leave off; cease; stop, +sterns,stars, +stew,dust; vapour; smoke,also stench; stink +sticket,stuck; gored,also unsuccessful or failing in one's profession +sticket minister,probationer who fails to obtain a,settled charge +stickin',sticking; goring, +stickit,stuck; gored,also unsuccessful or failing in one's profession +stickit minister,probationer who fails to obtain a,settled charge +stile,gate; passage over a wall, +stinkin',stinking, +stirkie,little steer; stupid fellow,diminutive +stockin',stocking, +stockin'-fit,feet clothed in stockings,i.e. without shoes +stoon,ache; throb, +stoor,dust (cloud); spray; gush, +stoorum,thin porridge; gruel, +stoppin',stopping, +stoppit,stopped, +stour,dust (cloud); spray; gush, +stown't,stolen it, +straik,stroke; blow; caress; comb,also streak +stramash,uproar; tumult; fuss; brawl, +strand,stream; rivulet;,also gutter +strang,strong, +strath,valley or plain,through which a river runs +straucht,straighten; straight, +strauchtforet,straightforward; forthwith, +straughtways,straightway, +stravaguin',saunter; stroll; go about aimlessly, +stucken,stuck, +stud,stood, +study,anvil, +stule,stool, +stumpin',hobbling; walking with a wooden leg, +subjec,subject, +subjec',subject, +suckin',sucking; nursing, +sucklin's,sucklings, +sud,should, +sudna,should not, +sufferin',suffering, +sune,soon; early, +suner,sooner, +sune's,soon as, +sung,singed, +sunlicht,sunlight, +sup,drink, +supperstitious,superstitious, +supposin',supposing, +sutor,shoemaker; cobbler, +swall,swell,also swallow; devour +swallowin',swallowing, +swarmin',swarming, +sweepit,swept, +sweer,swear,also lazy; slow; reluctant +sweerin',swearing, +sweir,swear, +sweirin',swearing, +sweyp,sweep, +swimmin',swimming, +syne,ago; since; then; at that time,also in (good) time +'t,it, +tae,toe; also tea,also the one; to +taed,toad, +taen,taken; seized, +ta'en,taken; seized, +taes,toes, +tag,whip; scourge,leather strap cut into strips +taicklet,tackled, +taings,tongs; prongs, +tak,take; seize, +tak',take; seize, +tak tent,look out; pay attention; watch; care, +tak' tent,look out; pay attention; watch; care, +takin',taking, +taks,takes; seizes, +tak's,takes; seizes,also take his +Tam,Tom, +tane,the one,also taken +tap,top; tip; head, +tap-dressin',top-dressing, +tappit,crested; having a top, +tappit hen,Scottish quart-measure of ale/claret, +tards,whip; scourge,leather strap cut into strips +tauld,told, +taws,leather strap cut into strips,used for school punishment +tawse,leather strap cut into strips,used for school punishment +tay,tea; supper, +teachin',teaching, +ted,child; diminutive person,term of disgust +teetles,titles, +tellin',telling, +tellt,told, +tell't,told, +telt,told, +tent,attention; care; heed; notice, +tertians,third year's students in arts,at Aberdeen University +teuk,took, +thack,thatch; cover; roof, +thae,those; these, +Thamas,Thomas, +than,then,also than +thankfu',thankful, +thankin',thanking, +thankit,thanked, +the day,today, +the morn,tomorrow, +the morn's,tomorrow is,also tomorrow +the nicht,tonight, +the noo,just now; now, +thegither,together, +them-lanes,on their own; alone, +themsels,themselves, +themsel's,themselves, +theroot,outside; out there; out-of-doors, +thievin',thieving, +thinkin',thinking, +thocht,thought, +thochtless,thoughtless, +thochtna,did not think, +thochts,thoughts, +thoom,thumb, +thoomb,thumb, +thoosan',thousand, +thoucht,thought, +thouchts,thoughts, +thow,thaw, +thrang,full; well filled; busy; crowded, +thrapple,windpipe; throat, +thrashin',threshing; beating, +thrashol',threshold, +thraw,throw; turn; twist, +thrawin',throwing; turning; twisting, +thrawn,thrown; turned; twisted, +thrivin',thriving, +throng,intimate, +throosh,thrashed; beat, +throu,through, +throu',through, +throughoot,throughout, +throuither,confused; disorderly, +throu't,through it, +throw,through, +til,to; till; until; about; at; before, +till,to; till; until; about; at; before, +till's,to his; to us, +till't,to it, +timmer,timber; wood, +timmer-leg,wooden leg, +tint,lost; got lost, +tippit,tipped, +tither,the other, +to the fore,remaining, +tobawco,tobacco, +tooer,tower, +toom,empty; unload, +toomed,emptied; unloaded, +toon,town; village, +toon-en',end of the main street,of a town or village +toons,towns; villages, +toot,tut!,exclamation of annoyance +Toots!,Tuts!; Tush!, +toun,town; village, +tow,rope; string; cable, +towie,string, +towmon,twelvemonth; year, +trail,drag forcibly; haul along, +train-ile,train oil; whale oil, +traitet,treated, +traivel,travel, +traivellin',travelling, +translatin',translating, +treatin',treating, +triacle,treacle, +tribble,trouble, +trimles,trembles, +triumphin',triumphing, +troublin',troubling, +trouth,truth; indeed,also used as an exclamation +trowth,truth; indeed,also used as an exclamation +truf,turf; sod; peat, +truff,turf; sod; peat, +tryin',trying, +'ts,its, +'tsel',itself, +tuik,took, +tumler,tumbler; glass (of whisky), +turnin',turning, +twa,two; a few, +twa three,several, +twal,twelve, +twal',twelve, +'twar,it were, +'twas,it was, +'tween,between, +twistin',twisting, +'twixt,betwixt; between, +tyke,dog,also rough clownish fellow +tykes,dogs, +tyne,lose; get lost; miss, +tynes,loses; gets lost; misses, +ugsome,disgusting; frightful; ghastly, +unce,ounce, +unceevil,uncivil, +unco,unknown; odd; strange; uncouth,also very great +unco',unknown; odd; strange; uncouth,also very great +undertakin',undertaking, +ungratefu',ungrateful, +unner,under, +unnerstan',understand, +unnerstans,understands, +unnertook,undertook, +unrichteous,unrighteous, +unshuitable,unsuitable, +up the stair,upstairs,also to heaven +upbraidin',upbraiding, +upbringin',upbringing; education; training, +uphaud,uphold; maintain; support, +upliftit,uplifted; elated, +upmak,make up; compensate,also fabrication; invention +upmak',make up; compensate,also fabrication; invention +upo',upon; on; to; at, +upo's,upon us; upon his, +upricht,upright, +vaigabon',vagabond, +vaigabone,vagabond, +vainished,vanished, +veesion,vision, +verra,very; true; real, +vertue,virtue, +vertues,virtues, +visitin',visiting, +vratch,wretch, +wa',wall,also way; away +wab,web, +wacht,weight,also guard; watch +wad,would,see also 'I wad'; pledge; promise; wager +wadna,would not, +wae,woe; sad; sorrowful, +waesome,sorrowful; sad, +waitin',waiting, +Walawa!,lamentation,exclamation of sorrow +wale,welt, +waled,thrashed, +walkin',walking, +walleen,well-eyes; quagmire-springs, +wame,belly; stomach; womb; hollow, +wan,reached; gained; got,also wan +wanner,more wan, +wantin',wanting; lacking; without; in want of, +wantit,wanted, +war,were, +wark,work; labour,also show of affection +warks,works, +warl,world; worldly goods,also a large number +warl',world; worldly goods,also a large number +warld,world, +warlock,wizard, +warna,were not, +warnin',warning, +warpit,warped, +warran',warrant; guarantee, +warst,worst, +warstle,wrestle, +warstlin',wrestling, +wa's,walls,also ways +washin',washing, +wasna,was not, +wast,west, +was't,was it, +wastit,wasted, +wastlin,westward; western, +wastrie,waste; extravagance, +wastry,waste; extravagance,also prodigal +wat,wet,see also 'I wat'; pledge promise +watchin',watching, +wather,weather, +watshod,with wet feet; brimful of tears, +watter,water, +wauk,wake, +waukin',waking, +wauk-mill,fulling-mill, +waur,worse,also spend money +waured,spent (money), +wee,small; little; bit,also short time; while +weel,well; fine,also happiness; prosperity; weal +weel-behaved,well-behaved, +weel-deserved,well-deserved, +weel-pleased,well-pleased, +weel's,well as, +weet,wet; dew; rain, +weicht,weight, +weir,wear,also hedge; fence; enclosure +wel,well, +weyd,weed, +weyds,weeds, +weyk,weak, +weyver,weaver; knitter,also knitter of stockings; spider +wha,who, +whaever,whoever, +whan,when, +whanever,whenever, +wha's,who is,also whose +whase,whose, +What for no?,Why not?, +What for?,Why?, +whaul,whale, +whaul-fishin',whale-fishing; whaling, +whauls,whales, +whaur,where, +whaur's,where is; where has, +whaur't,where it, +whaurupon,whereupon, +wheel,eddy; pool; deep still part of the river,also wheel; see also weel +wheelie,wheel,diminutive +wheen,little; few; number; quantity, +whiles,sometimes; at times; now and then, +whilie,short time, +whilk,which, +wholpies,silly stupid fellows, +whuch,which, +whunstane,whinstone, +whups,whipping, +whurlin',whirling, +whusky,whisky, +whustlin',whistling, +wi',with, +wice,wise, +widdiefows,gallows' birds; scamps,also small ill-tempered persons +wifies,women; landladies,term of endearment +willin',willing, +willin'ly,willingly, +wimmen,women, +win,reach; gain; get; go; come, +win',wind,also reach; gain; get; go; come +windin',winding, +win'in',winding, +winkit,winked, +winna,will not, +winnock-lug,window corner; side of the window, +winnocks,windows, +wins,reaches; gains; gets,also winds +wi'oot,without, +wi's,with us; with his, +wiss,wish, +wissin',wishing, +wi't,with it, +wite,blame; reproach; fault, +withoot,without, +won,reached; gained; got, +wonna,will not; won't, +wonner,wonder; marvel, +wonnerfu,wonderful; great; large, +wonnerfu',wonderful; great; large, +wonnerin',wondering, +wonno,will not, +workin',working, +worryin',worrying, +worshippin',worshipping, +wow,woe,exclamation of wonder or grief or satisfaction +wrang,wrong; injured, +wranged,wronged, +wrinklet,wrinkled, +wrocht,wrought, +wull,will; wish; desire,also astray; stray; wild +wumman,woman, +wynd,narrow lane or street; alley, +wyte,blame; reproach; fault, +yairds,yards; gardens,also yards (1 yard = 36 inches) +yallow,yellow, +ye,you; yourself, +ye'll,you will, +yer,your,also year +yer lane,on your own, +yer lanes,on your own, +ye're,you are, +yerl,earl, +yersel,yourself, +yersel',yourself, +yersels,yourselves, +ye't,it to you,also did you [get] it +yett,gate, +yetts,gates, +ye've,you have, +yill,ale, +yird,earth, +yon,that; those; that there; these, +yonner,yonder; over there; in that place, +yon's,that is; that (thing) there is, +younker,youngster, +yoursel',yourself, +yowth,youth, + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Alec Forbes of Howglen, by George MacDonald + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALEC FORBES OF HOWGLEN *** + +***** This file should be named 18810.txt or 18810.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/8/1/18810/ + +Produced by John Bechard (JaBBechard@aol.com) + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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